Nov-Dec 2001 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

8/9/2019 Nov-Dec 2001 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

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Ferry Flurries

Take steps to lessen summ er traffic woes on Cape Cod? Make it easier forvisitor s to get to Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard from Boston and New York?Save energy? Add convenience? All these benefits migh t accrue, one would th ink,from the inauguration of high speed ferry service from New Bedford on the m ain-land, to supplement ferries now running from Woods Hole and Hyannis on the Cape.

Nyet, said many residents and po liticians on the Cape and on the Islands ingatherings to discuss a New Bedford p roposal to launch the new service. Some inthe tow n of Falmou th near Woods Hole feel that the heavy traffic is an asset that

helps local businesses. Islanders recognize the traffic prob lems on the Cape, butclaim that the root cause is not island-bound tourism, but ill-planned developmenton the Cape itself. Many of them feel that their summer tourism has alreadyreached the saturation po int, and that addit ional ferry service from anywhere wouldovercrow d beaches and the islands narrow roads and min imal port facilities.

There is also concern that the state-chartered Island Steam ship Author-it y, which wou ld operate the new 55-minute service, might lose money on it, as itlong has on a slow er steamer that now serves the New Bedford route. When theSteamship Autho rity loses money, Falmou th, Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard taxdollars must make up the difference.

(Continued, p. 6)

Troubles in Paradise

Paddlers were thrilled in the mid-1980s when the M aine IslandTrailAssociation (MITA) was form ed. Its orig inal mission was to delineate and publi -cize a chain of publi c and pri vate islands, from Casco Bay to the west to M achiasBay near the Canadian border, each about a days row from the next, where seakayakers could legally camp out overn ight. Owners and the states Bureau of PublicLands expressed enthusiasm. Droves signed up.

So much so that new stresses have been im posed on the chain of beautifulproperties. It now encom passes 120 islands and mainland campsites in Maine andin Canada. Sum mertime overcrow ding, vegetation loss, erosion, and hum an wasteprob lems have become comm onplace on the systems 49 public islands. They areopen to all com ers, not just M ITAs 3700 mem bers, whose dues enable them to usethe private islands as well . Not just paddlers, but increasing num bers of power and

sail boaters, visit the publi c sites.

MITA has long felt an obligation to help m anage and conserve theseproperties, a task now requi ring the presence of sum mer caretakers at very heavilyvisited sites such as Jewell Island in Casco Bay. Further m easures are in prospectsince use of the sites, says MITA executive di rector Karen Stimpson, continues tobe a strong grow th industry with substantial increases each year in every cat-egory. Such is the situation that, ironi cally, winter is in many respects the busiesttim e of year for MITA. Early in 2002 the organizations board and staff wil l undertakea retreat to decide whether its mission shou ld continue to be public recreation , orwhether it should form ally become a conservation group and arrange its staff andbudget accordingly. URL: ww w.mi ta.org

News For Coastal Advocates

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Ferry Flurries

Troubles in Paradise

Sayings

Whitman OKs GE Cleanup

Much Wind about Wind

Publications

Decomposition Times

Courts and the Seashore

Wandering Reef Tires

Sprawl Hurts, Nature Helps

The Show Went On

Golf Gets Even Greener

Trawler Helps Turtles

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.

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2001


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Sayings

In the December issue of Working Waterfront , theIsland Institut esmonthl y chron icle of Maine coastal activities, editorDavid D. Plattexpressedthese thoughts in an editorial entitled Optimism :

Students in a Vinalhaven school w oodw orking cour se sharpen their chiselsto cut timbers for their new shop. Engineers at a University of M aine laboratorytest composite materials they hope will solve old problems in marine construction.Lobster dealers, facing a holiday market that w ould discourage anyone else, pressgift certifi cates and a promotional campaign to make up for lost sales.

On Swans Island, a young music teacher begins preparing dozens ofsingers and instrumentalists for an ambit ious concert. On North Haven, a classbuilds an electric car to get out tw in m essages of sustainabili ty and energy conser-vation. The M aine Seacoast M ission undertakes a new telem edicine effort thatlinks isolated people with m ainland help. If ever one needed to find examples ofoptimism in the face of terrible events, these small happenings in a scattering o fMaine communities should provide them.

The events of Sept. 11 proved tw o things, among m any others: that we areall linked inextri cably, and that in this country at least, optim istic thinking w ill assertitself, even in the fact of disaster. The linkages were imm ediately evident, of cour se,from the mom ent disaster struckgrounded airplanes meant a halt in air ship-ments, meaning a sudden interrupti on in a seafood market that in a quarter-centuryhas become truly global. Heightened security continues to affect everyone, putti ngcivil li berties at risk.

Yet as we responded to new threats wi th legislation , executive orders andmi litary action, Am ericans instinctive optim ism began to re-emerge. We looked atour prob lems, old and new, and w ent back to wo rk on them as we always have. Weasked questions, and we began to craft answers to them .

We know now, having been brutally reminded, that we can no longer feel

shielded from the rest of the wor ld. But because we are essentially optim istic, wecan face the future confident that we wi ll meet its challenges. Its not a holidaymessage anyone w ould have chosen, but it s one that inspires us all the same.

URL: www.islandinstitute.org

Appreciation

We extend very special thanks to the Fair Play Foundat ion, ofWilmington, Delaware, for renewing its m ajor support for our newsletter program.So far this year we have also gratefull y received a total of $34,952.82 in smaller bu tessential donations from 129 individuals and fam ily foundations and institutions.Among them are these donors who, between October 16 and December 20,

contribu ted between $50 and $1,000:

Celia F. CrawfordThomas J. DevineLouisa C. DuemlingAlexander Farman-FarmaianJonathan J. Ledecky FoundationGeorge G. Montgomery, Jr.

In the mercurial post-September 11 climate for charitable contribu tions,expressions of confidence such as these are most especially appreciated. Theyalone enable us to move forw ard.

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Atlantic CoastWatch

Vol. 5, No. 6

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

2001 Major Donors

Avenir FoundationThe Fair Play FoundationThe Curti s and Edith M unson

FoundationMad River Foundation

Sponsored Project s

Trees for DC

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

Cecilia V. NobelRalph E. Ogden FoundationSimon Sidamon-EristoffMrs. A.J. SmithMary M. ThacherHenry S. Ziegler


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Whitman OKs Hudson Cleanup

Environm entalists in Washing ton have had littl e to cheer about in recentmonths. Legislative priorit ies have shifted in the aftermath of September 11. A runof sub-cabinet level appoint ments in key governm ent bureaus has positioned foxes

to guard chicken coops. Oil drilli ng w ithin the Alaska National Wildlife Refugeremains a presidential fixation. In that context, the surprise of the autum n waswhen EPA Adm inistrator Christie Whitm an announced a m ajor pro-environ-ment decision on removing PCB pollution from the upper Hudson.

The agency, she said, would m ove forward with its previously announcedplan to remove from the riverbed some 150,000 pounds of these highly toxicmaterials dum ped there over a 30 year period.

General Electric, the principal offender, would have to pay almost $500mi llion to get the job done. The effort, reported the New York Times, would be oneof the largest and most com plex environm ental cleanup pro jects in the nationshistory.

In reaching her decision, Whitman waved aside argum ents from thecompany and some politicians in the affected area that the mud-stirr ing dredgingwould provoke more environmental problems that it w ould solve. Though the newplan included some concessions favoring the company, Scenic Hudson Presi-dent Ned Sullivan called it everyth ing we hoped for. At yearend, conservativegroups awarded Whitm an a Dlowest grade for any Cabinet memberfor this andother EPA actions during the year.

Ironically, analyst Lawrence Horan told the Associated Press, thecompanys future earnings wi ll no t be affected: it has already set aside reserves to

pay the bill.

M uch Wind About Wind Power

In November the Boston-based Energy M anagement Inc. (EMI) and alocal partner announced plans to build the nations first offshore wind farm onHorseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. The company proposes to buil d 150 to 200windm ills on the shoal, 5 mi les off the south coast of Cape Cod. Each tow er wouldbe 250 feet in height . The $500 mil lion system would generate 420,000 megawatts ayearenough pow er to supply the same number of hom es.

Developer Jim Gordon, EMIs president, advocates the concept on severalgrounds: reducing US dependence on foreign o il and our contribution to globalwarming from burning f ossil fuels, and harnessing an inexhaustible supply o f freewind.

Advocates from Denmark, some 20 % of whose energy comes from wind

pow er, and from the Pacific Northw est, support the idea wi th near-religious fervor.Skeptics worry about the 28 square mile farms reliability, price tag, and its effectson fishing, birds, and tourism. Another concern is the route of the undergroundcable between the systems underwater tu rbines and the Capes power grid .

At a November meeting, the Barnstable tow n council decided not to take afirm position on the proposal. Instead, it will seek advice from several local andstate agencies. The US Army Corps of Engineers, among others, will have toapprove it because of its location in navigable waters. For all the road blocks lyingahead, Gordon p lans to comp lete construction and begin generating in 2004. URL:www.capecodonline.com

People

The Nort h Carolina CoastalFederation retained Frank Tursi,recruited from the Winston SalemJournals environment desk, as thenew Cape Lookout CoastKeeper. Hisrange extends from the New River inOnslow to the Pamlico, bordering theregions of the Neuse and New RiverKeepers.

NOAA s first National SeabirdCoord inator is aptly Kim Rivera, whohas worked since 1997 on this Foodand Agriculture Organization

initi ative to reduce avian by-catch.Said Rivera: Ive spent most of mycareer dedicated to seabird conserva-tion, trying to figure out how it can beachieved in balance wi th fisheries.

The new head of the Barbados-based

Caribbean Conservation Associa-tion (CCA) is environmental scientistJosh B. Singh from Trinidad andTobago. At the associations recentannual general m eeting, CCA alsoannounced receipt of a 9.1 mi llioneuro grant for environmental educa-tion programs throughout the region.URL: www .cca.org

The Nat ional Fish and WildlifeService has appointed FernandoNunez-Garcia project leader for therecovery of the Puerto Rican parrot.

Nunez-Garcia has studied the high lyendangered bird for tw o decades.Fewer than 200 of them exist any-where, only some 40 in the wild .

After service as New Jerseys commu-nity affairs commissioner, JaneKenny has become the administratorfor EPA s New York-based Region II.The office covers New Jersey, PuertoRico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands aswell as New York state, w ith a budgetof $760 million .

Awards

For overseeing multi-species researchbetween M aine and Virginia, MichaelSissenwine , director of the NMFSNortheast Fisheries Science

Center, was presented with theMeri torious Presidential Rank Awardby President Bush. There is nohigher comm endation for a federalgovernm ent executive.

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Publications

z The Great Remembering, by Peter Forbes (Trust f or Publ ic Land 2001),is a compact and beautifull y designed and illustrated book about the ethics andpracticalities of land conservation. The author thi nks along the lines of WendellBerry and Donella Meadows about the citizenship o f place, and expressescompell ing thoughts on land, soul, and society. URL: tpl.org

z In Great Waters: An At lantic Passage(Norton 2001),science wr iterDeborah Cramer hits all the main points about pollution, overfishing, and otherailments besetting the western Atlantic. The narrative thread for her wide-rangingstory about impacts of hum an origin, as well as the regions biology, chemistry, andoceanography, is a ride from Cape Cod to Barbados aboard a research sailboat.

z In the manner of Red Tails in Love, a charming account of New York Cityhawks, author David Gessner has pieced together a new tale of tri umph andtragedy surrounding another highly visible bird species. Return of t he Osprey(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2001) says much about this bi rds dramaticrecovery from near-extinction from DDT, its habitsand also about the author sown quest for understanding w hat both the osprey and he himself are all about.

z New from the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation is NewEnglands Ocean News(Neon), an electron ic newsletter to cover New Englandmarine affairs and inform people about developments that affect the marineenvironment. The inaugural issue focused on fishery issues. URL: clf.org

z The Wave(Raggedtooth Press 2001) is a novel about the physical andhealth effects of a killer tsunami , originating near the Canary Islands, that sweepsup Delaware Bay, inundating Philadelphia, and does equal damage elsewhere alongthe US shoreline. The book is oceanographer-author James Pow lik s third envi ro-thriller. Reviewer Jim Cresson, in the Delaware Cape Gazette, calls it a must readfor anyone liv ing along the Atlantic coast.

z Smart grow th w ebsites proliferate. EPA has a new and comprehensive

one. Another, more specific new site, put up by the Office of Marine Programs atthe University of Rhode Island, explo res the biological wonders of NarragansettBay. URLs: ww w.epa.gov/smartgrow th; omp.gso.uri.edu/doee.htm

Decomposition Times

How degradable is what gets left on the beach? Here are some recentfigures, from the Mote M arine Lab of the Nat ional Park Service:

Glass bottle 1 million yearsMonofilament fishing line 600 yearsPlastic beverage bottles 450 years

Disposable diapers 450 yearsAluminum can 80-200 yearsFoamed plastic buoy 80 yearsFoamed plastic cup 50 yearsPlastic film container 20-30 yearsPlastic bag 10-20 yearsCigarette butt 1-5 yearsWool sock 1-5 yearsWaxed milk carton 3 monthsNewspaper 6 weeksOrange or banana peel 2-5 weeksPaper towel 2-4 weeks

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Andrew Stout was given theAtlantic Salmon Federation shighest honor, the Lee Wulff Conser-vation Award. Known for his handi-work along the Connecticut River,Stout was founder and president ofthe New England Salmon Federa-tion.

Species & Habitats

At a University of M aine facility i nFranklin, aquaculture researchersplaced 25-gram halibut in tanks lastMay. The fish, harvested from thewi ld, are expected to reach marketweigh t in mid-2003. Captive breeding,a tricky business wi th th is species, isalso being attempted along w ith codexperimentation. While the future ishard to predict, station operationsmanager Nick Brow n told thePortland Press-Herald, he does notrule out the possibil ity of large-scale,comm ercially viable and environmen-tally sound farming programs forthese speciesand haddock and tunaas well.

Along Floridas northeast coast, saysthe Environm ental News Service, SeaGrant extension agent M aia McGuirewi ll soon have in place 100 recyclingstations for m onofilament fishing line.Too often this substance has beenlethal to turtles, pelicans, and m ana-tees. It is a danger also to scubadivers and motorboaters. Not all suchline is actually recyclable. But, saysMcGuire, the first step is to get asmuch of it as possible out of theenvironment. URL: www.ens.org

The Nat ional Audubon Society andthe American Bird Conservancyhave put 270,000 acres of the Dela-ware coast in their highest prioritycategory as a globally importantarea for birds. Based upon scientificdata, the classification carries nolegal status but is designed to raise

awareness of the vital link the areaplays in the migration of thousands ofshorebirds, coinciding w ith horseshoecrabs spawning in these waters in thespring. While Delawares CoastalZoning Act p rotects these areas fromindustr ial development, there are nolaws to protect the two thirds of thisland not owned by federal, state, orprivate conservation organizationsfrom heavy pressure for residentialdevelopment.


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In a recent report, the Center forCoastal St udies (CRC) inProvincetown, MA, found no signifi-cant alterations in the marine systemin Cape Cod Bay as a resul t of a yearsoperation of the Boston Harbor outfall.A m ajor concern had been thepossibility of nitrogen altering themarine systems food chain. After

monitori ng zooplankton andphytoplankton as well as nitrogen,scientists found no significantchanges. Said CRC: A lthough theanalysis continues, prelim inaryindications of the outfall s influence

lead us to be guardedly optim istic.

Restorations

Since it was first drained for salt hayback in the 1800s, Weskeag salt mar shin South Thomaston, ME, had existedas an elevated mud flat. The MaineDepart ment of Fish and Wildlife

began to purchase parts of the marshin the 1960s. New excavation m achin-ery has made plugging the twelvedrainage ditches feasible (woodenbarriers attempted earlier were noteffective). Three years ago a federalpermit w as obtained to restore themarsh to i ts natural state. Waterentering at high tide is retained,providing w ading pools for shorebirds and a substantial increase in theinsects, small invertebrates and fishon wh ich they feed. The results are

apparent according to USFWSbiologist Ron Joseph. Bird sightingshave increased sign ificantly.

Products

In London the 258-store supermarketchain Asda recently announced that itwas recycling chicken waste and usedcooking fat to pow er its deliverytrucks. In Ashfield, MA, reports theAssociated Press, Tom Leue cooks upa soup of restaurant grease trap oilcollected from restaurants, woodalcohol, and lye in his backyard. Withthis mix ture he pow ers the dieselengines on his two cars, his pickup,and his tractor. Daytona Beach, FLbiker Harold Benich finds this sort ofgoo too di rty. But he has adapted thediesel on h is Harley-Davidson Fat Boyto burn soybean oil, doubling themileage he got from conventionaldiesel fuel. He likes the smell too: like you w ere cooking French fries,he told a News-Journalreporter.

Courts and the Seashore

After nearly 3 1/2 years, NJ/NY Baykeeper won i ts Clean Water Act citizenlawsuit against Rahway Valley Sewerage Authorit y (RVSA) for dumpingsewage into the Rahway River and Arthur Kill tributaries that feed Raritan Bay. Thepenalty: a $50 mill ion overhaul of it s plant to com e into com pliance, $725,000 to

New Jersey for illegal discharge, and $240,000 to Baykeeper for its legal expenses.At issue: of four sewage outflow s serving 12 municipalities in Union and MiddlesexCount ies, two were illegal, discharging raw sewage every tim e it rained, regardlessof volum e. Joining Baykeeper in the litigation was its affiliate the AmericanLittoral Society, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Pro-tection, which had failed to act prior to the suit. URL: www.nynjbaykeeper.org

Lawsuits were dismissed in tw o separate cases where developers suedtowns that capped grow th by lim iting buildi ng permits. Rhode Islands SupremeCourt deli vered a technical ruli ng on a South Kingston case, describing i t as mootbecause none of the Plaintiffs ever had applied for or had been denied any requestfor a building permit, and according to the Providence Journal, suffered nodamages. This did li ttle towards settling whether Rhode Island towns have the rightto legislate grow th by ordinance, or via comprehensive plan. In Mount Pleasant,

South Carolina, tow n officials needing to slow t heir late 1990s population grow thrate of 8-9% down to 3-5% to tackle infrastructure bottlenecks, regulated via newbuilding permits. According to the Charleston Post and Courier, although the townsought to have its ordinance ruled constitutional, the plaintiffs w on a di smissalwhen the building slum p left a surpl us of permits for 2001. The lawsui t is unli kelyto be re-applied next year, as the extra 306 spare permits for single family hom esfrom 2001 will be added to the 2002 lim it of 865. With the expansion of suchordinances, coupled w ith an economic uptick, expect further legal definitions.

The International Maritime Organization, with 159 member states, hassuccessfully created a global agreement that bans toxi c ship paint, an Agenda 21goal set at the 1992 Earth Sum mi t in Rio de Janeiro. The pact becomes a new l aw ofthe sea one year after 25 countries that carry 25% of global shippi ng tonnage signoff. Significant in t he development o f the International Convention on the Control

of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships was the involvement of environm entalgroups, the cooperation of shipping companies, and numerous scientifi c studieshigh ligh ting the damage to coastal species and habitats from these toxins.

In November the EPA , under the Clean Water Act, set new rules governingpower plants use of cooling w ater to minim ize environmental damage, especially tofish and shellfish. One rule covers design issues at an estimated 121 new powerplants to be built in the next 20 years, based on the plants size and degree of wateruse for cooling , with an estimated annual cost of less than $47 mi llion , and noimpact on the nations energy production. Dramatic reductions in mortality arecited as among the benefits. The second of 3 rules to be released in the next 3years w ill cover existing utility plants with high l evels of w ater use. The last dealswi th smaller plants. URL: www.epa.gov/waterscience/316B

Wandering Reef Tires

Thousands of tires, used as artificial reef material, have show n up on abeach nourishm ent site at Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina. The offshore artificialreefs were made of tens of thousands of ti res lashed together w ith chains accord-ing to a Nort h Carolina Division of M arine Fisheries official. Corrosion of thechains and hurr icanes have broken up the reefs and spread the tires onto borrowareas for the nouri shment pro ject. As more than 100 tires a day are vacuumed up,expenses are mounti ng and threatening the projects budget. Statewide an esti-mated 350,000 tires have been reefed.

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Customers would pay a premium of12 to 18 percent, figured the Chesa-peake Bay Foundation and severalpartners, to buy milk from farmerstaking extra environm ental precau-tions. The extra money would flowback to them to cover their extracosts. In practice, though, the groupfound that it cost a premium of 18 to

40 percent above convent ional m ilk toget the green milk to market, andthat few consumers were willing topay that much more. After a 14-monthtrial period the Chesapeake Milkexperiment quietly folded. About$1000 had been distribu ted to partici-pating farmers. URL: www.cbf.org

Report Cards

The highest grade in th is years NorthCarolina Coastal Federation reportcard: a C earned by the state Senate.

Tarheel citizenry rated a low ly C- fortheir failure to turn up the heat. TheHouse of Representatives, as well aslocal governments bottomed out w ithsolid Ds. Spared was GovernorM ike Easley and his new administra-tion, but the report ind icates theirearly efforts dont look prom ising fornext year s grade. Said NCCF presi-dent Todd Miller: Environmentalchallenges facing our coast areincreasing at the same time our abil ityto m anage those challenges isdeclining a lethal combination fo r

the health of our coast. It is high tim efor citizens to let their passion for thecoast be felt by the people whorepresent them. URL: ww w.nccf.org

The Sierra Club ranked New YorkCity best in nation in its Clearing theAir w ith Transit study of public transitspending and sm og in 50 US cities.The Big Apple emitted the least smogper capita of all cities. It earned an Afor its spending on publi c transit,compared to that for roads andhighways, a B+ for it s effort to clean

air through transportation spending,and a C+ for the level of smog emi ttedfrom cars and trucks. Other Atlanti ccities fared far less well, most receiv-ing Ds and Fs. Two recent Californ iastudies suggest a strong correlationbetween air pollution, smog, and birthdefects and childrens respiratorydisease. Said Sierra Club di rectorCarl Pope: If cities invest in pub lictransportation, clean air wi ll com e.URL: www.sierraclub.org

Sprawl Hurts, Nature Helps

Add health to the list of reasons to avoid suburban sprawl. When Dr.William H. D ietz moved from medical work in Boston to a research position at theCenters for Disease Control in Atlanta, reports the Boston Globe, he was qu ick

to note a major di fference in personal habits. People walked to the stores inNewton, the Boston suburb where he lived. Kids walked to school . Not so inAtlanta, where its difficult to w alk anywhere.

Result: lack of exercise point ing toward obesity, already afflicting 60percent of all Americans, and the complications of fl ab and sedentary lifestyles.These include heart di sease, diabetes, and osteopo rosis. In his current w ork, Dietznot only seeks more precise understanding of these correlations, but also ways fornew forms of comm unity design to make physical activit y part of everyones life.

I would not go so far as to say that suburban sprawl m akes us couchpotatoes. Dietz told the Globe. But its a prom ising avenue to explore. Con-versely, according to a Cornell University study, a home surrounded by naturecan measurably improve a child s abili ty to focus attention and maint ain mentalhealth. Interviewed by the Environm ental News Service, project manager NancyWells said, The power of nature is indeed profound. URLs: ww w.globe.com,

www.ens.com

The Show Went On

There were a few dropouts. But almost the entire cast of Islands, the nowfamous m usical w ritten and directed by Broadway veteran John Wulp and per-form ed by a substantial percentage of the entire population of North Haven, Maine,weathered September 11 and made it to a previously scheduled September 29 NewYork City perform ance of the show.

An audience of 500 made it too, and they loved it. Wrote cast member LisaShields: The current of support and affection that flow ed back and forth betweenthe audience and the stage was almost palpable. The same was subsequently truein Portland, where this spirited look at the island community s people, tensions, andfoibl es played to 1900 hastily assembled people and several smaller audiences.

On This Island, a 57-minue documentary about the making of IslandsbyStephanie Schluka, was subsequently shown on Maine publi c television. Thevideo w ill have its premiere in Washington, DC on M arch 18 as one of m ore than 115productions to be shown in the annual Environmental Film Festival in theNat ions Capital. Other screenings are in prospect. The show lives on.

Ferry Flurries, Continued from p. 6

When the three Steamship Authority governors m et recently to review theproposal, they voted 2 to 1 against it. Only J.B. Riggs Parker, the MarthasVineyard representative, favored the plan. But shortl y thereafter Parker, accused bytheVineyard Gazetteof political thuggery because o f his relationship with NewBedford politicians, was voted out of office.

In retaliation, New Bedford official George Leontire scuttled a plan to runthe high speed service on a trial basis next summ er. He also trumped the islandersby denying the author ity access to the towns State Pier for freight service from themainland to the islands. URLS: www .mvgazette.com, ww w.s-t.com,www.globe.com

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Little change from 2000, according tothe Chesapeake Bay Foundation s2001 State of the Bay repor t. Despitelocalized fluxes in species abundanceor environm ental quality, bay-wideindices show neither improvementnor decline in wetlands, underw atergrasses, water clarity, phosphorousand nitrogen, toxics, dissolved

oxygen, rockfish and oysters. Down-graded: the annual rate of open landloss, which increased, and thedwindling crab population. Improve-ments: increases in m iles of forestedstream buffers (Mary land has alreadyattained its 2010 goal) and a recordshad population. URL: www.cbf.org

Two recent studies support thehypothesis that fully pro tected marinereserves can replenish fi sheries wellbeyond their boundaries. Waterswithin 62 miles of Floridas Merritt

Island National Wildlife Refuge,according to a recent article inScience, were found to have yieldedmore w orld record size gamefish thanall the rest of Florida put together. Inbadly depleted waters near Soufriere,St. Lucia, fishers closed off 35% oftheir former fishing grounds. Within 5years, stocks nearly doubled and thecatch is up 46-90%. URL:www.seaweb.org

The EPA Inspector Generals officehas found that the way states punish

water quality violators is only mar-ginall y effective, according to aFlorida Specifierarticle. The GeneralAccounting Office concurs, statingthat proposed cuts in federal environ-mental enforcement and the delega-tion of authority to the state levelwould be harmful overall. M arylandbecame the nations first state to takea direct hit from such findings, when acourt ruled in favor o f plaintiffs callingfor actions to correct longstandingshortcom ings in the states airpollution control programs. URL:

www.enviro-net.com

Funding

With a senator from home on theAppropriation Committee for theDistrict of Colum bia, LouisianaState University was awarded $2.25mi llion to design the Anacostia River sclean-up. Robert Boone, Presidentof the Anacostia WatershedSociety commented on Senator

Golf Gets Even Greener

In June 1998,Atlantic CoastWatchreported a rapid upswing in interest,among golf course managers and golf club boards, in adopting greener practiceson the links. Reductions in chemical and water use, and increases in habitat for

w ildli fe and in the use of native plants, were spreading fast across the industry. Inprio r years, equal energy had been spent on looking good for the TV camerassometim es at a heavy environmental cost.

Growing numbers of courses were enrolling in the Audubon CooperativeSanctuary program run by the pri vate, nonprofit Audubon International withsupport from the Unit ed Stat es Golf Association (USGA). More than 100 ofthem had been certifi ed as meeting high standards measured across a broad rangeof criteria. The USGA was beginn ing to study habitat issues in partnership w ith theNat ional Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

What was beginning to look good then has accelerated over the past threeyears. Well over 2000 of the nations 17,000 courses are now sanctuary m embers,and at last count 313 of them w ere fully certified. Adding w ildl ife habitat acreage bydecreasing m anaged turfgrass, choosing native plants and phasing ou t exoticspecies, and adding gardens to attract birds and butterfli es have been among themost commonplace measures. Water and pesticide costs have dropped forsanctuary members.

Whats more, both the golf course managers and the players favor theshift. According to a recent Audubon International survey, 66% of superintendentshave become happier in their w ork because of the changes. 99% of the coursesreported that gol fer satisfaction had improved or, at worst, remained the same. Program participants, the report concludes, Have been able to effectivelyintegrate environm entally sound m aintenance practices w ithout sacrificing golfingprio rities. The task is eased since golfers actually use only about 30 acres ofcourses encompassing 150 acres.

Of all states the leader is Delaware, 19 of w hose 35 courses have signed up

for the sanctuary prog ram and where a goal of 100% participation has been set. Inother less advanced states, authori ties are apply ing the stick. Commissioners inLake County, Flori da recently approved a measure calling on the two dozen localcourses to conserve water and meet state regulations on chemical use. Non-complying courses will lose their water-use permits. URLs: ww w.audubonintl.org,www.usga.org

Traw ler Helps Turt les

Sea turt les jeopardized by dredg ing operations at the mouth of the Chesa-peake Bay recently got help f rom an unexpected source: the 92-foot traw ler CaptainTuck.

At the outset of a dredging operation to replenish Virginia Beach, reportedthe Virginian-Pilot, four m igrating loggerhead turtles had been caught and died inthe dredges massive suction arm s. Because these and other sea turtle speciesare threatened or endangered, federal regulations required action before dredgingcould resume.

The Captain Tuck, whose crew is trained to avo id sea turtles, not catchthem, came to the rescue. Chartered by Weeks Marine, the dredging company,the fishing vessel rose to the new challenge. In one recent sortie, her crewcleared11 turtlesincluding a highly endangered Kemps Ridleyfrom in f ront o f thedredge. The project was hailed as a tremendous success.

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Upcoming Events

January 6-9 . Phragm ites Australis: A Sheep in Wolfs Cloth ing? sponsored by the USGS,in Vineland, NJ. URL: ww w.njm sc.org

February 11-15 . 2002 Ocean Sciences Meeti ng, organized by the Am erican Society ofLimnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and the Am erican Geophysical U nion, inHawaii. URL: www.agu.org/meetings/os02top.html

February 23 -27 . Watershed 2002 by the Water Environment Foundation, in Orlando,FL. URL: www.wef.org/pdffiles/Watershed02CFP.pdf

February 25-M arch 1 . 33rd Annual Conference of the International Erosion ControlAssociation, in Orlando Florida. URL: ww w.ieca.org/public/articles/details.cfm?id=3

February 26-M arch 1. Eleventh International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species,hosted by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Cent er, Alexandr ia, VA.URL: www.aquatic-invasive-species-conference.org

February 27-March 1 . 5th National Mit igation Banking Conference, by the TerreneInstitute, in Washington, DC. URL: ww w.terrene.org

M arch 7-8 . Sustaining Seascapes: The Science and Policy o f M arine Resource Manage-ment, lecture series at the American Museum of Natural History . URL:research.amnh.org/biodiversity/symposia/seascapes/

M arch 18-20 . Sixth M arine and Estuarine Shallow Water Science and ManagementConference, in Atlanti c City, NJ. E-Mail: [email protected]

M arch 30 . 7th International Wild life Law Conference, by the Am erican Society ofInternational Law , Washington , DC. URL: eelink.net/%7Easilwi ldlif e/programs2.shtml

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.

M ary Landrieus coup demainfor her alma mater, You have pork flying allover the place and lit tlegoing to the cleanup. TheAnacostia is probably themost studied river in theworl d. Now it needs somehonest funds that wi ll bedirected to the cleanup.

As part o f the $7.8 billionEverglades restorationprogram, $5.9 million wi ll beapplied through a 5 yearFlorida Bay and Florida KeysFeasibil ity Study. It wi llexamine upstream impactsof land use and water qualityon Bay health, with the

purpose of restoring theecosystem. A study onnutrient runoff effects onFlori da Bay by Larry Brandof the Rosentiel Schoolof M arine and Atm o-spheric Science, (AtlanticCoastWatch, September/October, 2000), had calledinto question the value ofrestoring the Everglades atthe expense of the Bay.

Documents

Nov-Dec 2001 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter