Overhanging paper birch trees in this Iron County lake contribute leaves and branches to this lake's food web. They will eventually die, helping to form the structure that further enhances fish habitat.

Within seconds, the classroom was buzzing as small teams of agents quickly brainstormed and recorded their lists on overhead transparencies. Seminar leaders Dean Premo and Elizabeth Rogers led the class through a discussion of listed items that ranged from sandy beaches, abundant wildlife, and nice views (things viewed as positive) to shores with woody debris, aquatic plants, and wetlands (things seen as negative). From the start the two seminar leaders were challenged to show how positive attributes of waterfront ecosystems interconnect with and depend upon what are usually viewed as negative features. The real estate agents turned students were eager to learn and very willing to be active participants.

The pilot program had its origins in the brainstorming of several people. Lisa Conley (past NALMS president) and Bob Korth (University of Wisconsin Extension - Lakes Partnership), both in the pilot class as observers, have been strong proponents from the beginning. A training program for waterfront real estate agents was a product of their thinking along with contributions from the Wisconsin Association of Lakes (WAL), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, White Water Associates, and some dedicated Realtors® like Karen Pavlicek (Edina Realty) and Kitty Kuhl (Wisconsin Realtors® Association). After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded funds to NALMS, White Water Associates was contracted to develop and deliver the program. Jeff Thornton provided helpful guidance as NALMS' project administrator. Drs. Premo and Rogers, White Water Associates' President and Senior Ecologist, respectively, approached the class with the aim to make science understandable and usable through entertaining and interactive exercises. The resulting program "Promoting Healthy Waterfront Property" was inaugurated in 1998 with the northern Wisconsin program described above.

At the seminar's heart was the concept that the waterfront owner has invested in an ecosystem, not just a piece of property. This fact provides a strong incentive for real estate agents to become more knowledgeable about the waterfront and to convey that knowledge to the property owner. Maintaining or increasing the health of the ecosystem increases the real value of the investment. Since a real estate agent is likely to be involved with the sale of a parcel repeatedly over the years, increasing the value of waterfront also ensures higher commission for each transaction.

The real estate agent is a critical first contact for people who are planning to live near water. Prospective buyers often lack understanding about land and water, and how their future activities may influence the health of these ecosystems. Knowledge and sources of information conveyed by the agent to the new owner can foster a more sensitive stewardship of the property. From the agent's perspective, a better understanding of a waterfront property can help establish the personal connection between property buyers and sellers so crucial to a successful transaction. The seminar was designed to provide tools and perspective to promote waterfront that is healthy in both ecological and marketing senses.

A real estate agent has the very challenging job of matching a property with a prospective buyer (called "qualifying skills" in the industry vernacular). The seminar turned that concept on its head during one segment when presenters asked participants to consider the process of selling waterfront property from the perspective of an animal as the potential buyer. This whimsical approach allowed presenters to make serious arguments for maintaining or restoring riparian and littoral zone habitat. Skillful explanations and a carousel of slides helped the students see what features of habitat were desirable to a redback salamander, ovenbird, or smallmouth bass.

In addition to riparian ecology, the day-long seminar covered aspects of water quality, waterfront law, and the waterfront community including flourishing lake associations. A popular activity during an afternoon break was an aquatic bug zoo—about three dozen living specimens of aquatic invertebrates contained in plastic ziplock bags, filled with water, and hung on a clothesline for easy viewing. These critters provided a wriggling backdrop for a discussion of aquatic food webs.

Besides providing a wealth of information and assistance to the agents, White Water presenters frankly and practically addressed what scientists and resource managers consider the best types of waterfront development and how to best take care of the ecosystems in which we live. While decisions about development can be beyond the real estate agents' influence, the perspective gained was invaluable. Currently, NALMS has no accreditation program for waterfront real estate agents per se, but all attendees received a certificate of accomplishment for participating in the class.

In fact, any real estate agent can hang out a shingle that proclaims "specialist in waterfront property" without any particular training. Yet, real estate agents who can provide that "something extra" in terms of waterfront information already have a competitive advantage. Meanwhile, two other NALMS-sponsored seminars are planned in early 1999 for opposite ends of the United States—the Southwest and the Northeast. White Water Associates is on tap to deliver programs at both locations, and interest is growing elsewhere for similar programs.

As the seminar's day wound down, teams of three or four agents were put to work selecting images from about 300 slides of waterfront scenes. The assignment's charge: to organize a short series of pictures, spend a few minutes planning, and then lead the rest of the class on a "virtual tour" of a property for sale. The exercise offered a perfect forum for these natural salespeople to show off their newfound knowledge in a series of clever presentations.

Students also taught seminar presenters a few new expressions including "fisherman's shoreline," a euphemism used in the real estate trade to describe a littoral zone with aquatic vegetation and large woody debris. Some buyers view this condition as undesirable and prefer a shoreline that has been "cleaned up." On the other hand, aquatic ecologists, wildlife watchers, and fishermen see the fisherman's shoreline as a critical component of a healthy ecosystem, a home to many organisms, and a source of important processes such as productivity, shoreline stabilization, and uptake of nutrients. After class ended, students expressed the feeling that they will never again look at a wetland or fisherman's shoreline in the same way.