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Riverscapes Restoration Design Manual - Home |
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The purpose of this [design manual]({{ site.baseurl }}/manual) is to provide restoration practitioners with guidelines for implementing a subset of low-tech tools—namely beaver dam analogues (BDAs) and post-assisted log structures (PALS)—for initiating process-based restoration in structurally-starved riverscapes. While the concept of process-based restoration in riverscapes has been advocated for at least two decades, details and specific examples on how to implement it remain sparse. Here, we describe ‘low-tech process-based restoration’ (LT-PBR) as a practice of using simple, low unit-cost, structural additions (e.g. wood and beaver dams) to riverscapes to mimic functions and initiate specific processes. Hallmarks of this approach include:
- An explicit focus on the processes that a low-tech restoration intervention is meant to promote
- A conscious effort to use cost-effective, low-tech treatments (e.g. hand-built, natural materials, non-engineered, short-term design life-spans) because of the need to efficiently scale-up application.
- ‘Letting the system do the work’ which defers critical decision making to riverscapes and nature’s ecosystem engineers
Check out the condensed, Cliff-Notes version of the manual in our new [Pocket Guide]({{ site.baseurl }}/resources/pocket).
The [design manual]({{ site.baseurl }}/manual) and [Pocket Guide]({{ site.baseurl }}/resources/pocket) are available digitally for free thanks to the generous investments and support from our [sponsors]({{ site.baseurl }}/manual/support). Moreover, after the [virtual training in August 2020]({{ site.baseurl }}/workshops/2020/SGI/#course-materials), all the [introductory workshop modules]({{ site.baseurl }}/workshops/2020/SGI/#course-materials) are now available free [here]({{ site.baseurl }}/workshops/2020/SGI/#course-materials) for self-paced learning.
LT-PBR Resources
FREE! LTPBR Learning ModulesSee here for Self-Paced Resources Take a Virtual
Reading Riverscapes Field Trip
[]({{ site.baseurl }}/workshops/2025/USU)
The next publicly offered classes will be in [Spring 2025]({{ site.baseurl }}/workshops/2025/USU). Registration opens November 11, 2024.
Register for Spring 2025 LTPBR Courses