The ABMS is sponsored by the USACE District, Portland to monitor beach and surf zone processes along Benson Beach and offshore wave conditions at Site E, a USACE dredge material disposal site. The ABMS-effort is part of an Army Corps Regional Sediment Management (RSM) demonstration project for the Columbia River watershed and littoral cell. RSM considers the total watershed and littoral cell when determining the costs and benefits of activities. The Corps believes that managing sediment for the benefit of the total system will in the long term both save money and improve the environment. Ft Canby has lost over 260 acres over the past 40 years due to erosion. The Washington State Department of Ecology scientists estimate that half of Ft Canby's 180 camp sites could be lost by 2009. Monitoring the environment and understanding its response to both natural and man-made pressures is a key component of the Corps' RSM program. The ABMS was deployed for these purposes.