History

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association was founded in 1926 by individuals who recognized the need for an organized effort to combat erosion, a serious problem in many coastal areas.

Experience had shown that long stretches of shore were affected, making protective efforts by individual property owners or small communities futile. The expertise required to design comprehensive programs of protection was largely lacking. In bygone days, the needs of navigation were regarded as paramount and there was no redress available for damages to adjacent shores by navigation works.

The founding members of the Association were active in persuading the Congress to enact legislation authorizing Federal sharing of the cost, first of erosion studies of specific problem areas and, later, of project works. Then, as now, this required data collection, research on coastal processes, and the development and the use of analytical techniques and hydraulic models (and, today, numerical models as well).

In the early years, the primary interest was in combating erosion and restoring eroded beaches. Recently, the work of the Association has been expanded to a broad range of activities and interests related to the overall planning and management of shores and beaches. Recognizing the great diversity of our coasts, the Association encourages regional workshops, as well as national meetings to benefit those working with our shores and beaches.

Recently, the Association’s directors voted to merge with the American Coastal Coalition. Read more about the ASPBA and ACC history.

Who is ASBPA?

Membership in the ASBPA is open to all who are interested in the protection and proper utilization of the shores of our oceans, lakes, and rivers. A majority of the membership is made up of engineers, scientists, planners, public officials, and others engaged in some phase of the management of these important resources.

The Association is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The main objective of the organization is to educate our public leaders, scientists, engineers, planners and the public to the damages erosion and what we can do about it via the “Shore & Beach Journal” and the monthly e-newsletter. We also sponsor two annual conferences – one held in Washington, D.C., offering an opportunity to meet with federal officials, and one (the ASBPA’s annual meeting) held in different locations around the United States and its territories. (Opinions expressed in our publications or at our meetings are the responsibility of the individual author or speaker, and are not to be construed as the official view of the ASBPA.)