This 2015 guidance was developed in an agency wide effort to clarify NOAA’s encouragement for the use of living shorelines as a shoreline stabilization technique along sheltered coasts. It covers NOAA’s living shorelines guiding principles, NOAA’s role in providing science, tools, and training, how to navigate NOAA’s potential regulatory and programmatic roles in living shorelines project planning, and questions to consider when planning a shoreline stabilization effort.