May-Jun 2000 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

8/9/2019 May-Jun 2000 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

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Nairobi Victory for Hawksbill

Since 1993 Cuba has been stockpiling shells of endangered haw ksbillturtles from the Caribbean and wants to sell them, mostly to Japan. At this springsNairobi meeting of the Commission on International Trade in EndangeredSpecies (CITES), Cuba m aneuvered hard to get the species downlisted so i t coulddispose of the six-ton stash.

The Cubans argued that the stockpile exists due to the US trade embargo ,wh ich required Cuba to harvest sea turtle meat to feed pregnant w omen in mater-nity hospitals. Moreover, said Cuba, the US had financed private groups to oppose

the opening of hawksbill trade as part of their general effort to bl ock Cuba fromengaging in international commerce. Japan worked hard to help the Cubans, hiri nga public relations firm to coach them and a team of scientif ic consultants (mostlycrocodile experts) to refine their proposal.

Over a fortnigh t of heated debate in Nairobi, US and international conser-vation and wil dlife protection groups form ed a hard-working Turtle Team to lobbyagainst the Cuban proposals. Well-qualified team scientists argued that reopeningthe hawksbill shell trade, even through a one-time shipm ent of stockpiled shell,would stimulate illegal harvesting and trade around t he world and further endan-ger the species. M any countries suppor ted this position, notably the Bahamas andCosta Rica. Both count ries want to w ork closely wi th Cuba to develop a Caribbeanhawksbill management plan.

The outcome was a cliffhanger. After its original proposal failed to achievethe required two-thirds majority, Cuba presented a modifi ed version. This toofailed. A third Cuban try, once again watered down a little, was narrow ly defeatedon the very last day of the conference. It was probably the most intense, fulfillingconservation victory I have ever helped achieve, said one Turtle Team m ember,David Godfrey of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. But, he warned,Cuba would have won had it needed only a simple major ity. The issue, he added, issure to resurface at next years CITES meeting.

Virginia: Aboard At Last

Ever since 1987, when the regional Chesapeake Bay Agreement w as firstnegotiated and signed, Virginia has been a reluctant participant relati ve to such

other partners as Mary land, the EPA, and the Chesapeake Bay Commission.So it was again over recent months, as proponents struggled to negotiate asuccessor Chesapeake 2000 agreement ob liging signatories to cut the ChesapeakeBay areas rate of spraw l by almost one-third by 2012.

During negotiations, Virginia Governor Jim Gilm ore won an extra twoyears for the region to m eet that and other targets. These include permanentlypreserving 20 percent of the watersheds open space, restoring 25,000 acres ofwetlands, creating 2010 miles of riparian forest buffer, and bringing about a tenfoldincrease in the Bays oyster population.

(Continued, p. 7)

MAY-JUNE 2000

News For Coastal Advocates

Hawksbills Win

Virginia: Aboard At Last

Sayings

Developer Strikes Out

Urbanization of Ocracoke

Publications

Protecting Right Whales

Anacostia Turnaround

Shrink Wrap Shrunk

Frenchboro Boost

License Plate Boom

z

Recurring:

People; Species & Habitats;Restorations; Report Cards;

Products; Funding; Job Open-

ings; Upcoming Events

Atlantic CoastWatch

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Atlantic CoastWatchis a bimonthlynonprofit newsletter, free of charge,

for those interested in theenvironmentally sound develop-

ment of the coastline from the Gulfof M aine to the Eastern Caribbean.

The newsletter is available on paperand at www.susdev.org


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Sayings

Youre a Sugar Daddy. Me Too. Actually, were chumps.

Collectively, as a society of sorts, weve sat by wh ile our precious water-shed the size of Maryl and was ruined. For the quick, big profits of a select few.

Weve done the dark deed with our very ow n public m oney, using our ow noften-compromised politicians. Its scary when you think about the disaster wevevisited on our natural system.

Im referring to the huge Everglades Agricul tural Area (EAA), the size ofRhode Island (since were conjur ing up state sizes). We mistakenly created theagricultu re zone to reclaim wetlands then thought to be expendable. Its environ-mental genocide.

Now, there may be a way out. Lets consider buy ing up that Rhode Island.For about fi ve billion bucks.

Then restore the sheetflow, the slow-moving, higher-water table move-ment that ran, or crawled, from the Kissimee Valley and Lake Okeechobee dow n

through the Everglades and to the Florida Keys. Our natural plant and animal life,not to m ention dr inking w ater, is largely at stake.

A current Restudy program w ould tinker further with reservoirs, dikesand canals in an attemp t to hang on to the EAA, restore some sheetflow and stoppum ped discharged into the estuaries. The Restudy is to cost eight b illi on. Were allfor it. But we fear it may not work.

Better, perhaps, to get rid o f the prob lem at the source. The buyout couldinclude generous payments for salaried EAA w orkers and fair returns to thebarons. They got the land for next to nothing and influenced government (us) toreclaim and subsid ize operations.

One factor m ost of us don t qui te realize is that the EAA w ater table is held

dow n two feet and more, unnaturally, year after year, through our drainage systemThe land value shouldnt be based on the artificial water-table manipulations. Itsnot that the drainage was done entirely by some long-lost souls of a century ago.Its continuing today, and tomorrow .

Lest you haven t learned of the changes wrought by irresponsib le reclama-tion and development, consider this sentence from a report by the US GeologicalSurvey:

These changes include large losses of soil through ox idation and subsid-ence, degradation of water quality, nutr ient enrichment, contamination by pesti-cides and mercury, fragmentation o f the landscape, large losses of wetlands andwetland functions, and widespread invasion by exoti c species.

Thats just part of i t.

Karl Wickstrom, Publisher, Florida Sportsman MagazineURL: ht tp://floridasportsman.com(Reprinted, w ith the magazines permission, from its May 2000 issue)

Appeal

Fully tax-deductible contribut ions to t he Sustainable Development

Institute, earm arked for Atlantic CoastWatch, are urgently needed. Theymay be sent t o us at 3 12 1 South St., N W, Washington, DC, 2 0 0 07.

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Atlantic CoastWatch

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

the Atlantic coastal zone and in forestregions, by communicating informa-tion about better policies and prac-tices. SDI is classified as exempt fromfederal income tax under section501(a) of the Internal Revenue Codeas an organization described in section501(c)(3).

Board of D irectors

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Scientific A dvisory Council

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Good Strikes Out

In late 1999 a federal appeals court turned dow n Florida developer LloydA. Good Jr.s longstanding effort to fi ll in ten acres of wetlands on Sugarloaf Key inthe Florida Keys. The proposed construction project wou ld have placed two alreadyendangered animalsthe Lower Keys marsh rabbit and the silver rice ratin evengreater jeopardy. Good had claimed a Fifth Amendment taking entitling him tocompensation.

The appeals court found that the standards of the US Army Corps ofEngineers in effect when Good bought the property in 1973, prior to the passage ofthe Endangered Species Act, made it not reasonable for him to expect thedevelopment plan to be approved (Atlantic CoastWatch, September-October 1999).

In the aftermath of the lower courts decision, the dogged Good appealed tothe US Supreme Court . His lawyers argued that the standard set by the appealscourt means that a property ow ner wi ll be held to lack such expectations even ifnothing barred his proposed development on the day he purchased the land if thedevelopm ent is contrary to som e future law or as yet unpromulgated regulation.

Piffle, ruled the Supreme Court in Apr il of thi s year, unanimously letting the

lower courts decision stand and leaving Good no further options for legal m aneu-vers. He told the St. Petersburg Tim esthat the case is going to set a landmarkprecedent thats going to be damaging to all pri vate property right s. Environmen-talists applauded an outcom e favori ng better legal protection for sensitive coastalareas.

The Urbanization of Ocracoke

No nook or cranny along the mid-Atlantic seaboard has seemed moreisolated, or better protected from the usual ailments of urbanization , than placidOcracoke on North Caroli nas isolated Outer Banks. Guarded on one flank by openwater and on the other by pub lic lands belonging to the Cape Hatteras National

Seashore, Ocracokes mere 750 acres of p rivately held and well buffered landseemed securely destined to remain a bucolic retreat of small inns, restaurants,and cottages.

But in recent years a major flush of tourism has created new problems forthe small comm unity: trash and sewage disposal, parking, and traffi c congestionfrom an ever-grow ing stream of cars and trucks flow ing in fr om Cape Hatterassome 15 mi les to the north or debarking in droves from the Cedar Island-SwanPoin t Ferry. Thom as B. Richter, chief planner in North Carolinas Division ofComm unity Assistance, attended a recent com munity meeting. His commentsstruck me as the most telling of the evening, reported visit ing journalist IreneNolan in The Island Breeze. Ive listened to your problems tonight, Richter said, and they are urban problem s. Ocracoke is not a rural entity any m ore.

According to Nolan, no proposed solution comes without difficulties. Thetow n cannot secede from Hyde County, on the mainland and indifferent to islandproblems, without permission from the county w hich in turn appreciates Ocracoketax revenues. Incorporation could bring independence, but at a heavy tax cost.Both the National Park Service and some business owners, reports Nolan, opposethe idea of establishing a remote parking area and ferrying visitors into town byshuttle bus.

In the end, Nolan concludes, the only solution for Ocracoke and otherremote Hatteras comm unities may be to incorporate and seize control of thefuture, no matter what the cost. The alternative may be a loss of the quality of l ifeon these islands that has brought so m any visitor s here to begin w ith.

People

At the age of 98 Gertrude Legendre,a legendary sportswoman andexplorer, died in March. Am ong hermany accomplishments was her roleas a founder and supporter of theSouth Carolina Coastal Conserva-tion League. Mrs. Legendre wasenthusiastic about the prospect of anenvironmental group that could focuson the coast of South Carolina, wrotethe Leagues directo r, Dana Beach. She did, however, have one criti cismof the proposal. It was too long. Ishould cut it down and get to thepoin t. She was, he added, a strongwom an who never doubted that sheand those around her could, andshould , make a real difference in theworld. URL: ww w.scccl.org

This spring the environm ental comm u-nity suffered two other great losses.In Washington, DC John Saw hill,president of The Nat ure Conser-vancy since 1990 and a principal forcein its rapid grow th in size and effec-tiveness, died of complications fromdiabetes at the age of 63.

In Boston Eleanor Dorsey, 51, marinebiolog ist and environmentalist, died ofbrain cancer. Her distinguished careerincluded long periods of service at theLong Term ResearchInstitute inLincoln, MA, where she studied

whales, and at the ConservationLaw Foundation in Boston whereshe focused on fishery i ssues.

In March Stephanie Drea joined theCenter for M arine Conservation asvice president for communicationsand marketing. Ms. Drea was for-merly executive vice president ofHager Sharp Inc., a comm ercialmarketing and public relations firm.URL: www,cmc.org

The Wildlands Project , headed by

Dave Foreman and based in Tucson,has announced the appointm ent ofDavid Bynum as eastern wi ldlandscoordinator. Based in Bahama, NC,Bynum w ill w ork to expand TWPspresence in the East, with a focus onNorth Carolina and the ChesapeakeBay watershed. URL: ww w.twp.org

Among those selected this year by thePew Fellows in Marine Conserva-

tion prog ram, three are of special

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interest to Atlantic CoastWatchers.Shark expert Ellen Pikitch of theWildlife Conservation Society,Bronx, NY, will study fishery manage-ment in New England and Madagas-car. James A. Powell of the FloridaM arine Research Institut e will workto improve coastal protection in areas

with important m anatee populations.Callum Roberts of the University ofYork , York, UK will study the role ofmarine reserves in St. Lucia insupport ing increased fishery yield.

Species & Habitats

No take zones in the Florida KeysNational M arine Sanctuary showsigns of working after two full years ofexistence. Two independentl y man-aged spiny lobster studies, launched in

1997, show increased size and abun-dance wi thin them. Simi lar increaseshave been recorded for many of themost exploited fish species. Findingsto date have not resulted in theexpansion of the sanctuarys no-takezones, wh ich will be reviewed onlyafter five years worth of data hasbeen assembled. But, says JoanneDelaney, research interpreter at theSanctuary, the hope is that the interimtallies wil l encourage the spread of no-take zones in o ther m arine reserves.URL: www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov

The Delmarva fox squirrel, listed asendangered since 1967, is even morecritically endangered today, reportsChesapeake Wildlif e Heritage .Habitat loss and threats from cars anddogs have reduced this animal, slowerand heavier than the gray squirrel, toless than 10% of its original range. It isnow found only in four counties onMary lands Eastern Shore. Unlesspopulation and land use patterns inthose areas undergo radical change,predicts Chesapeake Wildlif e HeritageDirector Ned Gerber, the species wi ll

have vanished in another 100 years.URL: www.cheswildlif e.org

The Chesapeake Bays mute swanpopulation, m eanwhile, is soaringup46 percent from 1996 in M arylandsportion of the Bay according to themost recent waterfowl count. The bigEurasian birds, originally imported todecorate ponds and lakes, have nonatural predators. They push awayother species and consum e large

Publications

Chided by som e for designing ditsy subdivisions that fail to live up to theirprom ise of radical change, Coral Gables architects and planners Andres Duanyand Elizabeth Plater-Zyberg are more w idely heralded as important leaders inthe nationwide struggle to curb sprawl and m anage urban development morecarefully. In their new book, Suburban Nat ion: The Rise of Sprawl and t heDecline of the American Dream(North Point Press 2000), they and co-authorJeff Speck recommend clear pathways toward cost-effective comm unity revital-ization bu ilt around traditional planning concepts. This is a benchmark book wri ttenin plain language for consum ption by the armchair urbanist.

Few tw entieth century yachtsmen can match designer/skipper OlinStephens for diversity of boating interests or length of t ime on w atch. After earlyyears canoeing and power boating on New Yorks Lake George, and sailing off CapeCod, Stephens began designing yachts in the 1920s. From the boards of hisSparkman & Stephens firm came many ill ustrious designs of sailing yachts rangingfrom awesome J Class Americas Cup racers of the 1930s to the beautiful sm allerwooden yachts that cruised and raced the Atlantic during those yearsoften w ithStephens at the helm. Now 92, he tells all in All This and Sailing Too, edited byJohn Rousmaniere and Joseph Gribbins and published this year by the Mystic(CT) Seaport Museum. URL: http ://store.mysticseaport.org

Nearly unanim ous rave reviews from citizens on Amazon.com greeted thepublication of The Consumers Guide to Effect ive Environment al Choices(Three Rivers Press, 1999) by M ichael Brower and Warren Leon of the Union ofConcerned Scientists. In the Baltimore Sun, columnist Tom Hort on noted thatthe book dispels a lot of gu ilt and confusion caused in part by other recitals of 100or 1000 things you should be doing . He added that the book offers the bestscientifi c documentation I have seen on wh ich indiv idual actions have im pact.

Two titles listed by Bullfrog Films, a distributor of environm ental docu-mentaries, are especially appropri ate for Atlantic coastal comm unity or educationalscreenings. Footsteps in the Sea: Grow ing up in the Fisheries Crisis(di-

rected by M ercedes Lee, produced by the Living Ocean program of the NationalAudubon Society and the University of Tennessee, 1998, 21 min .) surveys thesituation from the viewpoint of three Gloucester, MA teenagers. FisheriesBeyond the Crisis(directed by Eileen Thalenberg, narrated by David Suzuki,produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1998, 46 min.) in partdescribes the plight o f Bay of Fundy fi shermen. URL: ww w.bullfrogfilm s.com

For young explorers and those wishing to broaden their hori zons, FloridasHarbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) has pub lished Sea Prof iles, atwo CD-Rom multim edia presentation of coastal ecosystems, ocean processes,many species, hum an impacts and HBOI exploration methods. Composed ofhandsome illustrations, sharp photographs and movies, maps and apt descriptions,Sea Profilesmanages to capture the im agination while presenting encyclopedicamounts of marine information . This second product by HBOIs media lab follows

the 1996 Living Lagoon: An Electronic Field Trip to North Americas MostBiologically Diverse Estuary, also w orthwhil e, and w as sponsored in part byRoyal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruise Lines, and the Ocean Fund. URL: ww w.hboi.edu

For coastal professionals involved with or interested by computer m ap-ping, notewor thy is M arine and Coastal Geographic Information Systems,(Taylo r and Francis, 1999). Editor s Daw n J. Wright and Darius J. Bartlettconducted a two year, internet based collaboration w ith leading experts in the field.Less an introductory text than a sum mary o f state of the art research and methods,this first of a kind book provides valuable guidelines for scientists and resourcesmanagers by highlighting the many com plex issues faced w hen representing andmodeling data three dim ensionally. URL: http://dusk.geo.orst.edu/book/

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quantities of valuable underwatergrasses. One way to deal with theproblem, reports Karl Blankenshipin Bay Journal, is to relocate ratherthan kill them. Swan expert WilliamSladen , of Environmental St udiesat Airlie, he writes, advocates thatsame-sex pairs be rendered fligh tless,then handed over to people with

ponds in need of adornment. URL:www.bayjournal.com

Restorations

Eelgrass, providing a safe breedingground for m any marine species,once covered 9,000 acres ofNarragansett Bay, reports the Provi-denceJournal. Today, only 100 acresof such cover remains. This spring, ina program sponsored by Save theBay, students at 22 Rhode Islandschools culti vated seedlings inclassroom s and greenhouses forsubsequent transplanting in to the Bay.Students told the paper that they likethe project. Instead of doing bookwork, youre actually doing some-thing , said M isty Billings, 16. Weget to see how m uch weve accom -plished. Wed rather be in the green-house than in class.

The money isnt m uch, only $1.1million to be split for restoration workwi thin no fewer than 11 estuariesaround the US, from Puget Sound to

Tampa Bay. But the new partnershiprecently announced between theRestoration Center at NOAA , theNat ional M arine Fisheries Service,and the private organization SaveAm ericas Estuaries (SAE) still holdsprom ise. It weds federal resourcesand scient ifi c capabili ties to SAEs 11member organizations with deep rootsin local comm unities. SAE mem berswork in the Gulf of Maine, Long IslandSound, Narragansett Bay, the Hudson-Raritan estuary, the Chesapeake Bay,and in North Carolinas Albem arle and

Paml ico Sounds. URLs:www.rdc.noaa.gov;www.estuaries.org

Report Cards

According to a recent NationalAcademy of Sciences report,human activities have doubled theamount of nitr ogen circulating in theenvironm ent betw een 1960 and 1999.

Protect ing Northern Right Whales

Of all whales, the closest to extinction i s the northern right w hale. Huntedalmost to that point dur ing comm ercial w haling days, the numbers of these 70-tonanimals have since increased from a low of about 100 to some 300 today. But nowthey suffer from frequent ship collisions along their migratory route from Florida tothe Bay of Fundy, and reproductive failure perhaps due to stress. Only one calf ofthis species is known to have been born last year. Whale scientists give the species200 more years unless new w ays are found to protect the remaining population.

In a new effort to lessen the occurrence of colli sions wi th ships, which havekilled at least 16 northern righ t w hales since 1973 (40 percent of all deaths),scientists have begun testing a new acoustic system this year. The Song of theWhale, an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) research vessel,deployed six beach ball-sized buoys in 50 to 100 feet of water near Georges Bankoff Cape Cod. After a month o f capturing ocean sounds, including those of passingnorthern right whales, the buoys wi ll soon pop up to the surface and be retrieved.Then the data stored on them w ill be analyzed. It looks quite promising, saysAnna M oscrop, IFAWs righ t whale project manager. But to gi ve ship traffic betterwarning of whale whereabouts, she hopes for further progress. We need asystem that can supply information in real time, not just store it on a hard disk forrecovery later, she says.

Separately, IFAW coord inated a pilo t effort this spring to clear away ghost fishing gearlost or d iscarded nets, ropes, lobster buoys and potsfromparts of Cape Cod Bay frequented by righ t whales. Entanglem ent with suchequipm ent is another leading cause of death, with some 14 casualties since 1970.This springs cleanup, in wh ich the Cape Cod Lobstermen s Association and theM assachusetts Division of M arine Fisheries participated, was the prelude to amore intensive campaign to be conducted next winter. Only a small num ber oflobster pots remain active during the w inter, and ghost gear will be easier to find. Next January, state biologist Dan M cKiernan told the Cape Cod Times, Prior tothe whales arriv ing, we can tru ly get all the abandoned gear out of the bay.Lobstermen expressed eagerness to help. URL: www .ifaw.org

The Anacostia: Attention at Last

Few r ivers have been as badly tr eated as the District of Colum biasAnacostia, the 8.4 mi le eastern branch of the Potom ac. Whi le cleanup efforts forthe Potom ac itself started back in the 1960s, the Anacostia continued long after tobe bombarded with tox ic pollution and used as a dumping ground for old tires, oildrums, and manure from the National Zoo. Neglected property lined the banks.Wild life fled or died. A recent US Fish and Wildlife Service study revealedpersistently high rates of liver o r skin tumors on brown bullhead, a species ofcatfish found in the river.

Serious recovery effort s can be traced back to 1989, when the AnacostiaWatershed Society began a series of high ly successful campaigns to removedebris and plant trees on the river s banks. A more recent entry is the innovativeEarth Conservation Corps, which employs m inority teenagers and young adultsin cleanup efforts and in reintroductions of bald eagles and other long-m issingspecies. Since his arrival on the scene two years ago, the Districts MayorAnt hony Williams has become a determined advocate for waterfront revitaliza-tion, attracting some $130 mi llion in local and federal resources to improve theriver and its environs. An agreement signed a year ago comm its the District andMaryland to fi rm targets for reducing pollu tion and protecting the river and its 170square-mile watershed.

(Continued, p. 6)

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Nutri ents, of which nitrogen is one, are the biggest pollution problem ofcoastal waters in the US, the reportadds, and nit rogen is clearly theproblem in m ost places. In the mid-Atlanti c region, a frequent conse-quence is algal bloom s that discolorwaters, kill seagrass, and disruptfisheries. In the lower Chesapeake

and its tributaries, reported theM aryland Department of N atural

Resources, nature underscored theNAS report by deploying one of themost concentrated and extensivealgal blooms to be recorded duringthe past 20 years. The mahoganytides resulted not only in discolora-tion of the water and boat w aterlines,but also in low dissolved oxygenlevels leading to fish d ieoffs in someareas. URLs: www .nas.org,www.dnr.state.md.us

According to a recent Louis Harrispoll, reported the Miami Herald, 57percent of those surveyed w ant theform er Homestead Air Force Base inSouth Miami-Dade County to becomea site for hom es and office buildingsrather than the full-fledged comm er-cial airport that has been proposed.Only 30 percent support the airpor tdevelopment. URL: ww w.herald.com

Products

In Gray, ME, SeptiTech, Inc. recentlywon an EPA award for its system thatdisinfects wastewater from septictanks with ultraviolet light, then evenlydisperses the treated water on togardens via a hose that leaks along it sentire length.

Both in Baltim ore and in Blacksburg,VA, reports Science News Online,researchers are developi ng advancedrecirculating-tank aquaculturesystems that can provi de employm entin depressed urban or rural areas andavoid environmental problems

associated with fish farming in openwaters. Efficient filtering systems cankeep fish healthy in the new tanks,even if they take up as much as 1/3 ofthe space available. Recent innova-tions to such systems, less advancedversions of w hich have been aroundfor decades, are improving their cost-effectiveness and mov ing theirdischarges of liquid wastes ever closerto zero. URL: ww w.sciencenews.org/2000513

Anacostia, Continued from p. 5

This year another force for improv ing the Anacostia is entering the scene.Dam on Whitehead was recently named Anacostia Riverkeeper as a new mem berof the environmental neighborhood w atch consortium called the InternationalWater Keeper Alliance. URLs: www.anacostiariverkeeper.org, ww.anacostiaws.org

Boat Shrink Wrap Shrunk

The shrink wrap that covers many boats during the winter, and many newboats as they are being delivered, is very li ght, says Beth Kahr, executi vedirector of Marylands M arine Trades Association. But it takes up a hugeamoun t of space at landfills, and it represents a problem that needed a solution.

After several years of experimentation, Kahr last year launched a programin boating in tensive Anne Arundel County. This year the County located specialdumpsters for used shrink wrap. With funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust,the Association publicized the initiative and shipped the wrap collected to a recy-

cling center run by Giant Foods. Giant baled the wrap, then sold it to a companycalled Manner Resins which turned it into edging for gardens.

Of a total 20,000 ponds of w rap collected this yeardouble that o f 19999,000 was deposited in 48 cubic yard dum psters at the Port Annapoli s marina. Were just really p leased at the response, says Kahr. She plans to repeat theprogram next spring, and extend it throughout the state.

A Big Boost for Frenchboro

Maine islands have troub le hanging on. Fisheries decline, jobs grow morescarce, young people move to the mainland. Great Cranberry Island suppor ts a

school but there are no more children to attend it starting in the fall. Alm ost all year-round residents are 65 or older in age. Among current effort s to attract new year-round residents are affordable housing and new business development programs.

Nearby Frenchboro Long Island, a place of great beauty just 8 m iles southof busy M t. Desert, has an even longer hi story of w orking hard to achieve a viableyear-round population and econom ic stability. Back in the mid-1980s its FutureDevelopment Corporation built 7 houses on donated land, and offered bargainrentals to newcom ers will ing to settle there year-round. Some of those selectedhave left; more have stayed on and buil t their own houses. And all but 2 of therentals are currently occupied.

Now another w indfall has come for th is islands 45 residents. Last year,when a huge tract of more than 900 acres of undeveloped land (m ore than half of

the island) was placed on the market, they feared that developers would quicklychange it from a fishing comm unity to a summ er resort. They sought help fromprivate institutions that might help them save the land: the M aine Coast HeritageTrust , Island Institut e, and M aine Sea Coast M ission.

Together these organizations raised some $3 mi llion to buy the tract forconservationmore private money than had ever been raised for any single Maineisland conservation effort. Along the way they persuaded owner Peggy Dulany tosell it for almost $1 mi llion less than the orig inal asking pri ce. Associated with thepurchase are funds to manage the property for low -impact public use, renovatehistoric buildings on the island, and m ake payments to the town in lieu of taxes.Frenchboro First Selectman David Lunt called the deal a lifesaver. URL:www.mcht.org

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Funding

Thanks to an $822,697 donation froman anonymous part-time resident, theSt. Croix Environmental A ssocia-

tion (SEA) was recently able toacquire a 60-acre parcel of land on theislands north shore as a permanent

nature reserve. Now known as theSouthgate Pond Nature Preserve, theproperty is the islands best habitat forbirds, says SEA. The donor wi ll alsofinance the first years operatingexpenses for the reserve, and m ayhelp even beyond that. URL:www.seastx.org

Job Openings

The UM CES Horn Point Labora-tory, Mary land seeks a physicaloceanographer. E-mail:

[email protected]

Old Dominion U niversity, Norfolk,VA seeks an assistant professor ofBiological Oceanography. E-mail:

[email protected]

The Bigelow Laboratory for OceanSciences, Boothbay Harbor, ME,seeks principal investigators, oceansciences. E-mail:[email protected]

The Nat ional Oceanographic and

At mospheric Administration,Department of Commerce, hasopenings for a skilled fisherm an and asurvey technician, at Woods Hole,Massachusetts. E-mail:[email protected]

The New Jersey ConservationFoundation , Far Hill s, New Jersey,seeks a coordinator for its Conserva-tion Leadership Program. E-mail:[email protected]

The Florida M arine ResearchInstitute needs a turtle researcher.URL: www . jobsdirect.state.fl.us

The Coastal Resource ManagementProject, Turks and Caicos islands,seeks a Chief Parks Warden. FAX:(649) 946-2751

The Center for Field Research,Earthwatch Institut e, has anopening for a Program M anager, Earthand Marine Sciences. URL:www.earthwatch,org/cfr/cfr.hmtl

With Appreciation

We extend warm thanks to the following recent donor s:

Gilman S. BurkeJohn S. ChatfieldJoan and Joseph F. Cullman 3rd

Hart FessendenFreeborn G. Jewett Jr.

Licensed for Conservation

From the District of Colum bia, where a Taxation Without Representationtag was recently proposed, to North Carolina, where a Square Dance Clubinsigni a costs an extra $10, the trade in special autom obile license plates is boom-ing. A standard theme is to use revenues from surcharges that drivers pay for thetags to support w ildlife and w ildlands conservation.

Massachusetts offers th ree special pl ates. The most successful, launchedin 1995, features a righ t whale and two roseate terns. More recently, the Common-wealth has added tags expressing the car owners concern for Cape Cod andadjacent islands, and for fish and wildl ife. Net funds collected from the premiumannual fee are managed by the quasi-publ ic Massachusetts EnvironmentalTrust. The whale plate has raised over $7 mi llion, says the its director, RobinPeach. Grant-making continues at a rate of $1.2 milli on a year.

Maryland, through the familiar great blue heron m otif on its comm emora-tive Treasure the Chesapeake tag, uses auto l icensing to help educationalinstitut ions, nonpro fits, and pub lic agencies work to protect the Bay. Returns fromthe $20 premium are admini stered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust , which awardsgrants rang ing from $5,000 or l ess to as much as $50,000. The Trust has doled ou t$9 mi llion since the program w as established in 1991; grantm aking from plate

revenues totals $580,000 a year. Georgia and North Carolina allocate returns fromspecialty plate fees to their ow n wi ldli fe protection agencies as well as to groupssuch as the Friends of the Lighthouse (Cape Hatteras).

Heads-up private environm ental organizations can score fund ing gains byworking closely with such programs. For one thing, they can lobby to preventlicence plate revenues from becoming replacements for, rather than additions to,previously funded program s. And they can stim ulate new activities. In Florida,where panther and manatee plates had been around for a while, the CaribbeanConservation Corporation (CCC) worked hard to get enough petiti on signaturesto warrant a new plate prom oting protection for sea turtles. Then CCC launched itsown efforts to help the state market the new tags, most recently v ia a bill boardcampaign underw ritten by a pri vate donor. Sales are soaring. Soon there w ill beenough in the till for the state to start funding private organizations as well as the

publ ic agencies that by law must receive support from this revenue stream. CCCwi ll be among the first pri vate beneficiaries. URL: ww w.cccturtle.org

Virginia, Continued from p. 1

The new agreement, said the Washing ton Post, gives a nod to Virginiastraditionally more friendly attitude toward growth by describing the target asreductions in harmful sprawl rather than cuts in the rate of development. But, thepaper continued, the compromise achieves real gains and sets a standard bywhich the agreement partners and the public can judge future land-use decisions.

7

Betty M cMillan

Mobil Foundation (Matching Grant)Laura W. RoperRussell E. TrainGeorge and Louisa Watson


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Upcoming Events

July 9-20. WATERSHED 20 0 0 , Vancouver, British Colom bia,Canada. E-mail: [email protected]

July 9-20 . The Coastal Society, 17 th Annual Conference, Coasts at the M illenium, Portland M arriott, Portland,Oregon . Fax: (541) 737-2064. E-mail: [email protected]

July 10-14. Rivers Project work shop, Woonsocket, RI. TheCommunit y Pollution Prevention Project working with theJohn H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley Herit age Corridor

is providing a teachers workshop on using local water resources.E-mai l: [email protected]. URL: www.sieu.edu/OSME/rivers

July 24-August 3 . Harmf ul Algal Blooms Workshop, in

Charleston, OR; The Oregon Instit ute of M arine Biology,University of Oregon. E-mail [email protected]: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~oimb

July 30-August 3. First International Symposium onDeep Sea Corals, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; The Ecol-ogy Action Centre, D alhousie U niversity. E-mail:[email protected]. URL: http ://hom e.istar.ca/~eac_hfx/symposium

August 6-12. INTECOL VI Global Wetlands at the M illen-nium , Quebec City, Canada. Tel. (418) 657-3853. Fax: (418) 657-7934. E-mail: [email protected]

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August 2 0-24 . American Fisheries Society Year200 0 Annual M eeting, St. Louis, MO. E-mail:[email protected]

September 2-8. 4 th International Conference onIntegrating Geographic Informat ion Systems and

Environmental M odeling, Banff, Alberta, Canada.E-mail: [email protected]. URL: ww w.colorado.edu/research/cires/banff

September 10-15.Sixth International Conferenceand Workshop on Lobster Biology and M anage-ment at Casa Marina Resort, Key West. Tel. (757) 683-3609. Fax: (757) 683-5283. E-mail: mbutler@odu .edu.

URL: ww w.odu.edu/~biology/lobsters.

September 11-14. M TS/IEEE Oceans 20 00 , annualmeeting of the M arine Technology Society, at Prov i-dence, RI. Tel. (800) 564-4220. URL:www.oceans2000.com.

September 17-22 . Coastal Zone Canada 20 00Coastal Stewardship: Lessons Learned and the

Paths Ahead, in Saint-John, NB, Canada. Tel. (506) 4535210. E-mail: [email protected]

Documents

May-Jun 2000 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter