Elliott Menashe

Elliott Menashe is an environmental consultant with Greenbelt Consulting. He has written “Vegetation Management:  A Guide for Puget Sound Bluff Property Owners" (Pub. 93-31), which has become the standard shore management guidance publication for the region.

He’s the originator of the “Biostructural Engineering” approach to slope stabilization, which combines structural, bio-technical and vegetative elements to restore slopes and reduce erosion. This approach has been tested and proven effective in numerous mitigation and restoration projects.

Elliott has developed an innovative conceptual alternative to conventional shoreline armoring. The “Root Wall” concept, which uses large trees as major structural components, has been incorporated into several recent soft-shore protection projects.

He is the inventor of “EcoMulchMat,” a biodegradable wood-fiber, rolled blanket designed to reduce erosion and sediment transport, control invasive plant establishment, and accelerate the establishment of desirable vegetation. This project is currently under development.

He has lectured on shoreline management and value of vegetation at numerous symposiums, conferences, seminars and workshops sponsored by numerous Federal and State Agencies.

Elliott’s articles and technical papers (some posted on website, www.greenbeltconsulting.com), have been published in newspapers, newsletters, and conference proceedings. He has amassed a slide image library of over 1,000 slides from projects throughout the region, which he uses in classes and workshops

Statement of Qualifications

(Last updated in August 2016)

Education

• Coursework, School of Fisheries Management, University of Washington
• Bachelor of Forestry, University of California, Berkeley
• Coursework, Zoology University of California, Los Angeles

Relevant Project Experience

• Technical Advisor, Island Beach Access, Greenbank, WA
• Technical Forestry Advisor, Whidbey Camano Land Trust
• Shoreline Management Advisor, Friends of the San Juans Landowner Assistance Project, funded by PSAT
• Technical Advisor, Metro Parks Tacoma
• Technical Advisor, Washington Sea Grant, relating to development of a “Marine Shoreline Planting Guide”
• Technical Advisor, interpretive trail development for Whidbey Institute
• Program, curriculum, and binder development for “Shoreline Management and Stabilization Using Vegetation,” classes for coastal planners, funded by NOAA, through the Washington Coastal Training Program
• Technical Advisor, program development for the Native Plant Salvage Project, sponsored by South Whidbey Tilth

Before becoming a private consultant in 1987, Menashe worked for the University of California’s Forestry Dept, in various capacities as a professional forester, wildlife biologist, Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Educator/Trainer, and wildland firefighter/lookout for the US Forest Service and private industry; as a fisheries and cetacean biologist for the Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington State Department of Fisheries, University of Washington, and Oregon State University; and as an environmental planner for the Washington State Conservation Commission.

I try to educate, inform, and assist landowners so they can make better land use decisions and take pride in preserving the unique features of the Puget Sound region. My education and experience—combined with a love of exploring the outdoors—has taught me how closely our well-being is linked with that of our environment. With increased population density, we need to do a better job of solving tomorrows’ crises today. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of riprap.