Jan-Feb 2002 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

8/9/2019 Jan-Feb 2002 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

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High Grades for M arine Protect ion

In 2000 President Bill Clint on issued an executive order to strengthenthe network of Mari ne Protected Areas (MPAs). Interest in the program , coord inatedby NOAA s National MPA Center, has been widely expressed. Examples:

A recent survey of nearly 9,000 reef users in southeast Florida, includingsport f ishers, snorkelers, scuba divers, and v isitors as well as residents, revealswidespread support for no-take zones. The comprehensive study, funded by aconsortium of state and federal agencies and conducted by the consulting f irmHazen and Sawyer, also highl ights the magni tude of reef-related expenditu res in

four counties along the coastline from Palm Beach to the Flori da Keys.

A m ajority of resident reef-users endorse the idea of no-take zones intheir county and in the other southeast Florida counties, report the studys authors.A m ajority of residents would support no -take zones on 20 to 25% of the existingnatural reefs. About 75% of respondents in all count ies supported the existing no-take zones in the Flor ida Keys.

(Continued, p. 7)

Citizens Block Dam Removal

In recent years dam removals, mostly fo r the sake of anadrom ous fish,have been apples in the eyes of environm entalists. In Maine last year, an effort tounplug the 150-year-old West Winterport dam on the M arsh Stream, between thetow ns of Winterpor t and Frankfort, also seemed headed for success.

Approvals were in hand from the US Army Corps of Engineers and thestate Department of Environmental Protection. The final thumbs-up from theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission, required to decommission a smallhydro power plant on the site, was also in sight. The dams owners, a group calledFacilitat ors Improving Salmonid Habitat (FISH), exulted in the prospect offreeing up the stream and restoring populations of highly endangered MaineAtlanti c salmon and other fi sh species.

Local opposition, however, mounted. Winterport fire chief Stan Bowdenargued that the hydrant proposed by FISH was no match for the 50-acre impound-ment of w ater available for firefighting that the dam created. Others worr ied aboutproperty values, flood control, and recreational uses that would be lost with the

pond. It was noted that Clift on Tow nsend, president of FISH, lives in farawaySkowhegan and that only one of the group s mem bers is a local resident. Winterportresident Bob Reynolds argued that Townsend represented the interests not o f thecommun ity, but of extremist environmental groups such as Am erican Rivers.

At recent meetings, citizens of both towns voted to enable local officials touse the power of eminent dom ain to acquire the dam from FISH and conduct anengineering study to establish the cost to taxpayers of owning and m aintaining it.In Frankfort the vote was unanim ous. Townsend says he is not sure what his groupwill do next, but foresees that the issue will all be in court fairly soon with no ideaof what the outcome will be. Its been a very interesting ride, he says. And Imsure it w ill conti nue to be an interesting r ide.

News For Coastal Advocates

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High Grades for MPAs

Dam Removal Blocked

Sayings

Offshore Wind Power

Senior Volunteers

Publications

More Salmon Strife

Builders Join Greens

Chesapeake Oysters

Jamaica Aids Watersheds

Canadian Ai r Pressure

Courts and the Seashore

Puerto Rico Goes High Tech

Upcoming Events

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Recurring

People; Awards; Species &Habitats; Restorations; Products;

Report Cards; Funding

Atlantic CoastWatch

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Atlantic CoastWatchis a bimonthlynonprofit newsletter for those

interested in the environm entallysound development of the coastline

from the Gulf of M aine to theEastern Caribbean.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2002


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Sayings

What follows was written byJohn Page Williams, senior naturalist at the

Chesapeake Bay Foundat ion. It is adapted from his Chesapeake Notebookcolum n, pub lished February 14, 2002 in The Capital, Annapolis, M d.

Why arent there any canvasbacks in front of m y house? asked a callerfrom the South River area several weeks ago. Youll remem ber that the temperaturewas in the 70s then. Winter didn t seem to exist.

A coup le of Alberta Clippers later, some canvasbacks began showing up inthe usual haunts. They just came late, said my fr iend Fairfax Settle, a wild lifebiologist. Besides common mergansers and ruddy ducks, there werent anywaterfowl around until January. On his survey last m onth, though, Mr. Settle foundabout 2,400 canvasbacks on the Rappahannock River, 1,500 on the York, and 4,300on the Potom ac, along w ith about 5,000 tundra swans, which also arrived very late.

Indeed, canvasbacks are among the latest arrivals among t he Chesapeakesmigratory waterfowl. They come here each w inter from nesting grounds in theprairie pothol es of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada, and from North Dakota.

The swans come all the way from the Arctic coast of Canada and Alaska. Histori-cally, the Chesapeake has been their most important wintering g round, offeringthem relatively ice-free waters and abundant underwater grasses. The grasses, ofcourse, are reduced in acreage and so are the birds numbers, but the bay is stillcritical habitat for them.

The canvasbacks got me to wondering w hat else was going on out there,so I launched my whaler on Lake Ogleton, at the Severns mouth , on a foggyafternoon. Up the Severn above the Naval Academy, the sounder marked a niceschool of w hite perch tucked into the 30-foot-deep hollow on the upriver side of theremains of the old railroad bridge, with a few rockfish hovering nearby at m id-depths. They were all in w inter quarters, just where Id expected to find them .

Even better, there were 40 tundra swans feeding on submerged redhead

grass on the Aisquith Creek Bar. Thats where they shou ld have been since earlyDecember, so I was reassured to see that they had f inally arr ived. So, according tocanvasbacks, swans, and some fish, winter is finall y here. Spring , however, is onlya couple of weeks away. By March 1, at least some of our ospreys w ill be back fromtheir ow n summ er in Central and South Am erica. For a couple of weeks in March,wel l have both ospreys and tundra swans here. Between them, they connect theChesapeake to both South Am erica and the Arcti c Circle.

Appreciation

Our warm thanks to these people who, between December 21, 2001 andFebuary 19, 2002, made most welcome and greatly appreciated contribu tions of $50to $1,000 to our new sletter and the Coastal News Nuggets feature that also appears

on our web site, www .atlanticcoastwatch.org:

Richard W. Angle, Jr.BlairT. Bow erBarry R. BryanDavid J. CallardArm and B. ErpfHarriet Sweeney and Eric FrauenfelterMary Price Taylor HarrisonLawrence S. HuntingtonFreeborn G. Jewett Jr.

(Continued, p. 3)

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Atlantic CoastWatch

Vol. 6, No. 1

A project of the SustainableDevelopment Institute, which seeksto heighten the environm ental qualityof economic development efforts, in

coastal and in forest regions, bycommunicating inform ation aboutbetter poli cies and practices. SDI isclassified as a 501(c)(3) organization,exempt from federal income tax.

Board of D irectors

Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr., ChairmanRobert Geniesse, Chairm an EmeritusRoger D. Stone, PresidentHart Fessenden, TreasurerHassanali Mehran, SecretaryEdith A. Cecil

David P. HuntGay P. LordLee PettySimon Sidamon-Eristoff

Advisers

Willi am H. Draper IIIJoan M artin-Brown

Scientif ic Advisory Council

Gary HartshornStephen P. Leatherman

Jerry R. SchubelChristopher Uhl

Staff

Roger D. Stone, Director & PresidentShaw Thacher, Proj ect ManagerRobert C. Nicholas III, Cont r. EditorSarah Verhoff, Program AssociateAnita G. Herrick, CorrespondentLaura W. Roper, Correspondent

M ajor Donors

Avenir FoundationThe Fair Play FoundationThe Curti s and Edith M unson

Foundation

Sponsored Project s

Trees for DC

Environm ental Film Festival in theNations Capital, March 14-24, 2002

Robert Leeson Jr.The Lucy FoundationFrederic C. RichFreder ick A.O. Schwarz Jr.Russell E. and Ai leen B. TrainDavid WardC. Lawson WillardThe Wilm ot-Wheeler Foundation


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Appreciation , Continued from p. 2

Overall donations credited to our 2001 appeal to taled $36,242.82, from 141indi viduals and small fam ily foundations. Three larger grants from the Avenir, FairPlay, and Curtis and Edith M unson Foundations, totaling $20,000, plus a fundbalance of $4,610 at January 1, 2001, enabled us meet our Atlantic CoastWatch

program budget of $60,000 for the year. With this support we could carry on w iththe bimont hly Atlantic CoastWatchnewsletter, now in its fifth year of publication,and also with the newer weekly Coastal News Nuggets headline feature on thewebsite. Our deep thanks, once more, to all who participated.

Not Far Enough Offshore Wind Power

Since our Novem ber/December 2001 coverage, more opposition hassurfaced to building a 170-tow er wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in NantucketSound. The Barnstable tow n council voted 8-3 to oppose Cape Wind Associat esplans. The vote has no binding regulatory power, but reflects concerns voiced bylocal businesses, fisherm en, boaters, and residents. The Cape Cod Timesstressedits worries about a lack of significant financial benefits to residents of the Cape andminim al government expertise on offshore wind farms in the US.

Nevertheless, following its own extensive field studies, the company isasking the Army Corps of Engineers for permits for a single collection tower tobe placed on the shoal. The M assachusetts Environm ental Policy Act office iscoordinating its review w ith the Corps.

Separately, Sea Energy Generation Corporation is proposing the useof European w ind and w ave technology at a 20 windmill and wave action park some8 to 20 mi les southeast of Nantucket. URL: www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces140.html.

EASI D oes ItOlder people interested in volun teer oppo rtunities to help protect the

coastal zone need look no further than the sprigh tly Environmental Alliance forSenior Involvement (EASI). This fast-grow ing organization, wh ich started in 1991wi th a budget of $10,000, now fields over 100,000 members of its Senior Environ-ment Corps via a network of 12,000 partner organizations. The budget has grow n to$2.7 million .

Featured environmental activities include water quality mon itoring,watershed assessment, and stream corr idor restoration as well as a variety ofteaching and o ther oppo rtunit ies. The organization is active all along the USAtlanti c shorelineespecially so in Massachusetts, Delaware, Georgia, and itsheadquarters state of Virginia. The Pennsylvania program concentrates on the

Susquehanna River w atershed.

EASI was born as a collaboration between EPA and the AmericanAssociation of Retired Persons. Funding comes principally from a variety ofgovernm ent agencies includ ing such unlikely ones as the Department of De-fense and, the management hopes, the newly founded Homeland Securityoffice.

Funding i s not a full measure of EASIs success, says director Tom Ben-jamin. Much of the growt h has come through replication of activities that does notrequire money. Our program costs $200 per volunteer, says Benjamin. And itsgoing down. EASI has few of its own local offices. URL: www .easi.org

People

Environmentalists in Virgi nia, a statenot known for its close attention toChesapeake Bay cleanup or pollu tionissues, are cheered by GovernorMark Warners appointment o f W.Tayloe M urphy Jr. to the states topenvironmental job, state secretary ofnatural r esources. Hes a greatenvironmentalist and a wonderfullegislator, says M arie Ridder, formercommissioner for the environment inVirgin ia. For 18 years as a statelawm aker, Murphy, 69, fought longand hard on environmental issues. Hepledges renewed efforts in his newposition. A state budget crunch standsin the way of rapid progress.

Another conservationist popping up ina surprising place is Christopher J.Zeman, New England field represen-

tative of the Am erican OceansCampaign (AOC), newl y appoin ted toa panel advising the New EnglandFishery M anagement Council onthe sea scallop fishery. This is a rarebut positive move, reports AOC, forthe industry-dominated Council.URL: ww w.americanoceans.org

New attention and support m ay stemthe long-standing decline of tree coverin the City of Trees, as Washing ton,DC was known a century ago.M ark Busciano, newly appointed

forester for the District of Colum bia,plans to increase a badly depletedstaff, introduce hazard and disease-resistant tree species, and f ield newmanagement techniques. But, hewarned in a Washing ton Postinter-view, Any tree endeavor is a long-term p lan. You cant have a shortpatch on i t. URL:www.washingtonpost.com

Awards

Among Chesapeake Bay people andinstitutions recently honored arethese:

The Renew able N atural ResourcesFoundation, a coalition o f 14 scien-tific organizations interested insustaining the worlds renewableresources, gave its 2001 Excellence inJournalism award to Bay Journal. Thisbimonth ly newspaper, edited by KarlBlankenship, provides a wealth ofinformation about Chesapeake Bay

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Publications

z From Abundance to Scarcityby M ichael L. Weber (Island Press 2002)looks back at the history of US fisheries poli cy and its evolut ion since the late 19thcentury. The author carefully tracks the shifts in policy toward increasing concernfor fi sh stocks and habitats. The major challenge, Weber concludes is reducingtodays overbuilt fishing fleets in a humane but resolute m anner.

z A succinct summ ary of the issues as they apply to the authors state is Smart Growt h in North Carolina: Pros and Cons (North Carolina Polit icalReview, January-February 2002) by attorney and lobbyist M . Gray Styers, Jr. Thisextensively annotated article summarizes the realities of rapid population increasesin the state and accompanying changes in traffic congestion and urban design.Listing the arguments for and against smart-growth , the author concludes thatoverall the trend seems to be gaining traction. URL: www .ncpoliticalreview.com

z Another slender but useful pamphlet was recently published jointly by theExtension Forestry Program at the University of Connecticut s Cooperati veExtension System and its Nonpoint Education for M unicipal Officials (NEMO)Project (Atlantic CoastWatch December 1997). Entitled Nat ural Resource-BasedPlanning for Watersheds, this is a handsom e, plain-spoken practical starter kitfor watershed projects. URL: http://nemo.uconn .edu/watersheds.htm

z Answering the question of What would it be like to experience the autumnrun from its balmy start to its stormy finish, flyfisherman and New York Timescolumnist Peter Kaminsky went fishing daily for six weeks straight, at Montauk.In The M oon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass(Hyperion, 2001) Kaminsky alternates

jealousy-invoking descriptions of his pursuit w ith l ocal h istory, colorful folk andculture, fishing know -how, and the ever-present jockeying betw een territ orialfishing gu ides, sport trol lers and the ignorant meddlers who scare fish away.

More Salmon Strife

Both Maines salmon farm s and the states remnant w ild salmon popu la-tions received renewed attention early this year. The year-long spread of infectioussalmon anemia from Norway and New Brunsw ick to farms in M aine waters hasprovoked d iverse reactions. To rid Cobscook Bay of the virus, deadly to the fishalthough harmless to people, authorities ordered farmers to slaughter over onemillion salmon and disinfect the pens. Compliance will empty the bay of salmon forthe first tim e in 20 years; a modest restocking program is to begin in the spring.One farming com pany, Heritage Salmon, pleaded not gui lty to charges of havingfailed to report , in time, that its fish had tested positive for the disease.

Accompanying the virus ou tbreak are calls from environmentalists for amoratorium on new aquaculture sites, some suggesting that the ban be limi ted tothe coastline west of Schood ic Point near the Canadian border. The Bangor Daily

News, commending the states Department of Natural Resources for havingdeveloped a good plan to m anage the aquaculture leasing program, argued that the intended result of that moratorium , marine zoning, is simply a place a statethat earns a substantial part of its li ving from the sea does not w ant to go .

A 13-mem ber panel convened by the high prestige Nat ional Academy ofSciences (NAS) gave Maines wild salmon a break. Countering Governor AngusKing s contention that wild salmon entering eight Maine rivers are mongrels whogot there by happenstance, the scientists found these fish to be genetically distinctfrom Canadian populations. The finding, w hich King said he would not challenge,suppor ts efforts by other federal agencies to pro tect the Maine fish under the termsof the Endangered Species Act. NAS recomm endations are expected by yearend.

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issues. It is published by the Alliancefor the Chesapeake Bay.

This years Chesapeake Bay Foun-dation honorees were Ann PesiriSwanson, executive director o f theChesapeake Bay Commission

since 1988; form er Mary land legislatorGerald W. Winegrad; filmm aker and

Earth Conservation Corps founderRobert H. N ixon; and Frances H.Flanigan, who recently retired after22 years directing the Alliance forthe Chesapeake Bay.

Among 20 businesses comm ended bythe Chesapeake Bay Program forinnovative pollution reduction pro-gramsare Merck& Co., plants inDanville, VA. and Elkton, VA for betterwater management and reductions inpollutant emissions, Lees Carpet s,in Danvill e, VA for using using a resin

based on renewable forest productsand reducing it s dependence onpetrochemical products by 20 m illionpounds in 2 years; and TargetCorporation for an increasinglysuccessful corrugated cardboardrecycling effort. The Marine Corpsbase at Quantico, VA w as honored fordecreasing hazardous w aste genera-tion by 71% since 1992.

Species & Habitats

The Baltimore Sunreports thatbecause of increased security con-cerns many favorite fishing spotshave become unreachable. Access toFishermans Park on the SusquehannaRiver, a favorite spot for shad fi shingand for bird watching, is now guardedbecause of its proxim ity to theConow ingo dam. Baltimores reser-voirs were off limits as well as theChesapeake Bay near the Calver t Cliffsnuclear plant.

New techniques analyzing fossilizedforaminifera on salt m arsh sediments

have allow ed Ronald Gehrels of theUniversity of Plymouth, England,and colleagues to determine sea levels1,200 years back at two locations inMaine and 300 years back in NovaScotia. Results reported at theGeological Survey of Am ericas

annual meeting ind icate that in thepast 250 years the sea level has risen12 to 20 inches at the M aine locationsand up to 2 feet in Nova Scotia.Gehrels states that it i s the biggest


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rise in the past mil lennium and globalwarming is to blame.

Nutria, large rodents from SouthAmerica, have reportedly fragm entedmarshland in the wil dlife-rich Black-water National Wildlife Refuge,MD. Their elimination from the area isbeing planned, accordi ng to Mike

Slattery of the US Fish and Wild-life Service, as reported by theBaltimore Sun. Nutr ia eat the roots ofmarsh grasses and create deepswim ming channels, eventuallyturning m arsh to mud flats. TheBlackwater has lost 8,000 of i ts 23,000acres of marsh in 50 years since thenutr ia appeared. L. Morris Goslingof the Zoological SocietyofLondon, who led a successfuleradication campaign in England,cautions that a successful trappingprogram will take years.

More and m ore harbor seals arewintering in w estern Long IslandSound as well as along the NewJersey and Delaware coasts, reportsthe Associated Press. Experts say thatthe federal M arine M ammal Protec-tion Act boosted the population inthe northw estern Atlantic Ocean.Reduced pol lution in the Sound hasallowed an increased population ofmenhaden, herring and other fish onwh ich the seals feed.

The lionfi sh, a Pacific Ocean species,has been spotted off Beaufort , NC;Savannah, GA; Palm Beach and BocaRaton, FL; Long Island, NY; Bermuda;and possibly Charleston, SC. Lurkingbetween the lionfishs luxurious finsare long poisonous spines that cancause humans a painful w ound.Speculation as to how the fish got intothese waters concentrates on ballastwater and the aquarium trade, withJon Hare of NOAA favoring thelatter.

Restorations

Efforts to bring back the highl ycontaminated Elizabeth River inNorfolk, VA are benefiting from apromotion campaign featuring anunlikely canary-in-the-tunnel: thelowly, m innow-size mum michog. Thehealth of th is species, which thenonprofit Elizabeth River Project iscurrently highlighting on posters, t-shirts, and invitations to a benefit ball,

Home Builders, Greens Join Forces

An innovative experiment to build consensus between hom e builders andenvironmental groups was launched last December in Pennsylvania, Maryland, andVirginia. Entitled Builders for the Bay, the program has as its aim to reduce theenvironmental effects of development in the Chesapeake Bay area. Co-sponsors

are the Alliance f or the Chesapeake Bay, the Center f or Watershed Protec-tion in M aryland, and the Nat ional Association of Home Builders.

The program is built around 22 site design pr inciples, many of themoffering economic as well as environmental benefits, developed by the Center forWatershed Protection . Builders and environmentalists have gathered in several ofthe regions counties to review them and, as in the instance of Maryland s FrederickCounty, jointly encourage their adoption by local jurisdictions. Ultim ately, thesponsors hope developers w ill start applying the principles in practice.

The idea, says David Bancroft of the Alliance for t he ChesapeakeBay, Is that if developers and environm entalists work together from the outset, itmight be easier to achieve unity. We find that many developers are eager to learnmore, find ways to get on the righ t side of the curve. They are interested in learning

more about how reductions in inf rastructure get you a more cost efficient home.The goal, Bancroft continues, is to get the Builders for the Bay process establishedin tw elve countiesfour in each of the three target statesby the end of 2003.

The rationale for the sponsors 22 core principles, and their environmentaland economic benefits, are fully exp lained in the Center for Watershed Protectionspublication Site Design: A Handbook for Changing Development Rules in YourCommunity. URL: http://www .cwp.org/bulders_for_bay.htm

Oysters: M ixed News for the Chesapeake

As if t he Chesapeakes badly depleted oyster harvest did no t already face

enough problem s from d isease and degraded habitats, along this year came a newthreat. It is the potentially toxic dinofl agellate Dinophysisacuminata, an algaespecies newly found i n the low er Potomac.

This cell, harm less to oysters but able to cause gastroin testinal illness inpeople, had never before been discovered within the Chesapeake watershed. Thefinding prompted a temporary ban on oystering in the area afflicted by the bloom,which scientists said m ay have been triggered by high salinity resulting from theprolonged drought in the region.

The new problem came on the heels of a report of failure w ith a long-termeffort to raise native Chesapeake oysters on artificial reefs. Starting ni ne years ago,reports the Associated Press, the Virginia M arine Resources Commissionlaunched an effort to construct large pi les of oyster shells and seed disease-

resistant oysters on them. These oysters, however, failed to affect the overall genepool as it was hoped they would. And to boo t, the reefs themselves are collapsing.

Many oystermen, meantime, have high hopes that an Asian oyster species,Crassostrea ariakensis, wi ll bolster popu lations and sales. Studies have shownrapid grow th rates in the Chesapeake for this species, and high degrees of resis-tance to MSX and dermo, the two principal diseases affecting the native oysters.The Pacific oysters are said to taste good as well. But since they are not native tothe region and the i ntroduction of exotic plant and animal species often triggersunexpected negative side effects, author ities caution against large-scale plantingswi thout sufficient prior research. Oystermen, whose catch is down to 1% ofhistoric highs, would prefer to get on w ith it. URLs: www .vims.edu, ww w.cbf.org

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is closely related to tox ic conditionsalong the rivers muddy bottom wherethe fish lives. Reads the t-shirt: TheGoo m ust Go. The little f ish go tanother recent boost when Donald S.Welsh, newly appointed m id-Atlanticadministrator for the EPA, visited theregion and touted the Elizabeth RiverProject as a national m odel. While

tour ing the region Welsh was pleasedto be presented with a clay mum mi-chog statue.

In an initiative to restore and enhance15,000 acres of criti cal waterfow lhabitat in Delaware Bay, DucksUnlimited and the states of NewJersey and Delaware are embarkingon a 10 year, $15 million program.Work on habitat just offshore as wellas on shoreline and adjacent uplandareas is planned for the target region.It is home to some 2,700 plant and

animal species, includi ng largenumbers of red knots, ruddy turn-stones and other shorebird specieswhose mig ratory arrival there coin-cides with the availability on thebeaches of an important food forthem: horseshoe crab eggs. URL:http://www.ducks.org

Products

A report in Biolog ical Conservationsuggests that an anti-corrosiontechnique developed by Japanese

scientists for ballast tanks may killcertain invasive species transmi tted inballast water. Bubbling nitrogen gasto reduce oxygen levels in the waternot onl y saves shipping companiesexpensive painting to prevent corro-sion, but when tested in a MontereyBay Aquarium Research Institute

lab, also killed larvae of three invasivespecies common to US waters. Whileanaerobic bacteria or organisms withcysts would no t necessarily beaffected, the nitrogen treatment offersa benign and econom ically attractive

way to reduce the number of po tentialinvaders.

The Depart ment of Energys IdahoNational Engineering andEnviron-mental Laboratory has developed aprocess called Bioavailabil ity En-hancement Technology TM to treatgroundwater fo r tr ichloroethene (TCE),a compound used for degreasing, andone of the most comm on contami-nants at hazardous w aste sites.

Jamaica Protects Watersheds

The United State Agency for International Development is provid-ing $6 mil lion of the total $8 million cost of Jamaicas Ridge to Reef watershedproject according to the Jamaica Observer Reporter. The five year project has

three main aims:

z Work with local organizations on sustainable environm ental manage-ment practices;

z Identify and suppor t activi ties that encourage better enforcement ofexisting environm ental regulations and pol icies;

z Enhance governm ent, private sector and civi l society organizations toimplement effective watershed management programs in Jamaica.

Experts view this work as timely against the backdrop of deforestation andsoil erosion that contributed to recent large scale flood ing.

Canadian Air Pressure

The Canadian Press reports that the use of pressurized blasts of airbubbles to explore for oil and gas off Cape Breton may cause damage to sensitivemarine life around the island. The area is a nursery for cod and other species.Hunt Oil Co., wh ich holds the leases to hundreds of square kilom eters, says thatblasts wil l not be conducted during spawning times and that plans are to ratchet uptheir intensity so that marine life will swim away.

Opponents of the blasting suggest that w hales and other large mamm alscould be harmed, and point to collapse of fish bladders and injuries to the innerears of many types of marine life from seismic waves. A ruling by the Canada-Nova Scotia Petroleum Board is expected shortly.

Courts and the Seashore

The Online Marinerreports that US Coast Guard Administrative LawJudge Edwin M. Bladen ordered a $250,000 fine, revocation o f the New Bedfordbased Independences federal fishing perm it and the vessel operator permit of itscaptain, Lawrence M . Yacubian, for repeatedly entering an area closed to fishing.According to Charles R. Juliand, lead NOAA prosecutor on the case, This casesets an important precedent by ho lding that the VMS (Vessel Mon itor ing System) inuse on scallop vessels is an accurate, reliable technology capable of producingevidence of vessel activ ity adm issible in a court of law .

According to NOAA s Coastal Servicesmagazine, the recent landmark USSupreme Court takings decision, Palazzolo vs. Rhode Island(Atlantic

CoastWatch, July-August 2001) has important sign ificance. In the previous Lucas v.South Carolina Coastal Comm issioncase the higher court had ruled that when aregulation eliminates all viable uses of a property the state must pay. In Palazzolothe Court did not find a taking, ruling unanimously that there was the potential for asufficient return on the property ow ners investment from the sale of upland lotsnot invo lving extensive filling of the wetlands central to the case. The decision didnot alter existing law on w hether an owner can claim a taking if regulations prohibitdevelopment of a portion of the land. Still, Brian A. Goldman, legal counsel to theRhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, maintains that theruling am ounts to a net gain for environmental regulators. Continuing his 40-yearquest, Anthony Palazzolo, 81, has submi tted a new appeal to the Rhode IslandSupreme Court.

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Success of a large scale test on thelaboratorys TCE groundw ater plum ehas won the approval of the state andEPA.

A prom ising bioremediation techniqueis being tested by the WashingtonSuburban Sanitary Comm ission.In-Pipe Technologys process

continually introduces a large supplyof a patented blend of sewage eatingbacteria into collection pipes beforethey reach the treatment center. Thesebacteria consume food and nutrientsleaving little for m ore harmful bacte-ria. Benefits include improvement ofthe plants overall perfo rmance, lesstotal sludge produced, and betterquality of water discharged.

New Jersey State officials and the USArmy have signed an agreementunder w hich technologies developed

by small companies and colleges willbe tested at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ,according to the Newark Star Ledger.Two p rom ising approaches areplanting ferns to suck arsenic out ofthe soil, and the use of microorgan-isms to eat tetryl, a chemicalbyproduct of munitions production.

Report Cards

A tw o-year study by the US ForestService , the EPA, the TennesseeValley Authority, the Fish and

Wildlife Service and several univer-sities concludes that urban spraw l isthe biggest threat to forests in the USSouth. The report predicts that 31milli on acres of forest would be lost tosprawl by 2040. In South Carolinawhere in 1989 Hurricane Hugowreaked havoc on the forests, sprawlagain shows up as the biggestcontributor to forest loss over time. Toslow sprawl Coastal ConservationLeague D irector D ana Beach

suggested that local governmentsshould think m ore like regions. He

noted that South Carolina does lessthan any other state to protect landthrough purchases and propertyeasements.

Funding

For $6.5 mi llion , New Hancock County,NC is currently fil ling in Mason Inlet,adjacent to heavily developedWrigh tsvill e beach, and slicing a newchannel through an undeveloped

Puert o Rico Planning Goes High Tech

Following Hurricane Georges devastation in 1998, Puerto Rico and FEMAdeveloped a miti gation strategy that m akes disaster and sustainable developm entinfo rmation related to landuse planning available online for the islands municipali-

ties and local comm unities.

Produced in little over a year, the Integrated Hazard Assessment andSustainability for the Island of Puerto Rico website used geographic informationsystems to weigh the risk of future damage recurrence in four categories: flooding(coastal and river), susceptibil ity to landslides, high w inds, and earthquakes. Foronline speed, these datasets were then clipped accordi ng to each municipality, sothat roads are easily vi sible, which permits any proposed development to beweighed against its hazard potential. Accompanying the disaster and sustainabili tyinfo rmation are planning guides and explanations of the analysis.

Developed by International Land System s, in partnership w ith URSCorp. and the Universidad Metropolitana, this project provides an excellentexample of comprehensively delivering locally relevant planning information.Given the broadly recognized overlap between disaster mitigation and environm en-tal pro tection, a standard has been set for other coastal states and counties toemulate. URL: gis-srv.suagm.edu/en.html (note: site uses brow ser cookies)

M arine Protected Areas, Continued from p. 1

Over 12 months beginning in June 2000, reef-related sales in the fourcounties reached almost $4.4 bill ion, and the reefs were supporting 71,300 jobs. Ahigh degree of user w illingness to pay more to pro tect the reefs was also revealedin the report, entitl ed Socioeconomic Study of Reefs in Southeast Florida.

Though the opinions of commercial fishers were not sought, marine

conservationists view the findings as a green ligh t for additional no-take designa-tions in the region. Nancy Klinenger of The Ocean Conservancy is especiallyheartened by the strong support of sport fishers. Even though sport fishingmanufacturers are less enthusiastic, Klinenger i s encouraged by the reactions of the ones who have the most actual experience with the zones.

The New England Aquarium recently convened a series of publicforum s to discuss a draft of its report to NOAA on how to make the system workwell. Enthusiasts attending a sum mary workshop in Portland urged NOAA to:

z Present a consistent m essage to all stakeholders;z Coord inate effort s of federal, state, and local agencies;z Enhance participation by stakeholders;z Ensure that MPAs address specific problems;

z Support coordination o f scientific know ledge and local know ledge;z Expand on m ethods of outreach.

In an editorial applauding a recent court decision mandating tighterimplem entation of national fishery laws, the Portland Press-Heraldargued thatmarine protected areas may present an important opportuni ty to change the waythis count ry m anages its ocean resources. MPA designations, said the paper,represent a shift from single-species management tow ard form s of protection thatbenefit entire marine environments and the biodiversity w ithin them and also prov ide grounds for fishing stocks to be replenished. Scientists at a recentAm erican Association for t he Advancement of Science strongly agreed.URLs: ww w.brow ard.org/bri01700.htm, ww w.neaq.org, ww w.atlantisforce.org

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Upcoming Events

M arch 7-8. Sustaining Seascapes: The Science and Policy of M arine Resource

Management, New York, NY. URL: research.amnh.org/biodi versity /symposia/seascapes/

M arch 14-24 . 10 th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nat ions Capital.URL: www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org

M arch 23 . 20 02 A nnual Meet ing of Association of M assachusetts WetlandScientists: Effects of Climat e Change on N ew England Wetlands. URL:www.amws.org

M arch 18-22 . 6 th M arine and Estuarine Shallow Water Science and M anagementConference, Atlanti c City, NJ. E-mail spagno [email protected]

M arch 30 . 7th International Wildlife Law Conference , Washing ton, DC. URL: http ://eelink.net/%7Easilwildli fe/programs2.shtml

April 6 . 12 th Annual Long Island Sound Summ it , New York Botanical Garden,Bronx, NY. Tel. 1-888-728-3547.

M ay 9-10. 29 th Annual Conference on Ecosystems Restoration and Creation,Tampa FL. E-mail : [email protected]

May 19-22 . 18t h International Conf erence of t he Coastal Society: ConvergingCurrents - Science, Cult ure and Policy at the Coast , Galveston, TX. URL: ww w.thecoastalsociety.org/tcs.18

M ay 20-22 . 7t h International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine andCoastal Environments, M iami, FL. URL: www .erim-int.com /CONF/7th_marine/7thmarine.html

At lantic CoastWatchSustainable Development Instit ute312 1 South St., NWWashington, D.C. 20 0 07

Tel: (202) 338-1017Fax: (202) 337-9639E-mail: [email protected]: www.susdev.org

www.atlanticcoastwatch.org

Tax-deductible contribut ions to t he Sustainable Development Instit ute,earmarked for At lantic CoastWatch, are urgently needed.

port ion of Figure Eight Island3000 feet to the north. Thishighly unusual relocationprotects Wrightsvill e beachresorts. Opponents feel it is a

waste of money since the oldinlet was shutting itself downanyway.

Nort h Carolinas Clean

Water M anagement Trusthas awarded $6.1 million tobuy out sw ine operations in thestates 100 year flood plain. Theland can still be used for lowintensity agri culture such asfield crops and pasture for beefcattle.

The Trust f or Public Landand the Land Trust Al lianceannounced that in 2001 voterspassed 137 ballot measures forland conservation, bringing thetotal since 1998 to $19 bill ion.Among the largest passed onNovember 6 w ere those inMorris and Middlesexcounties in NJ and DeKalbCounty, GA. URLs:www.tpl.org, w ww .lta.org.

Documents

Jan-Feb 2002 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter