2002 Voters Still Show Green ResolveEven as Republicans widely prevailed in the November elections and anti-

environmentalism flew high in Washington, November 5 voters nationwide alsooverwhelmingly supported ballot measures for open space land acquisitions. Of109 conservation measures on state and local ballots, reported the Land TrustAlliance, voters approved 85%; successful referenda in 93 different communitiescommitted $2.9 billion for parks and open space.

Large pluralities of voters in central and eastern Long Island, New York,hard pressed by the advance of sprawl development, voted exceptionally largeamounts for local purchase of development rights and other measures to safeguardopen space. Between them, the towns of Southampton, East Hampton, andBrookhaven approved no less than $315 million to support such programs.

While voters in Massachusetts nearly abolished the state income tax, 7 of11 towns also voted to increase their residential taxes by up to 3% to preserve openspace. This opportunity came via the Community Preservation Act, a state lawoffering local jurisdictions a way around a long-existing statewide ban on propertytax increases. Admitting that the surtax is no panacea, Southwick conservationistDennis Clark told the Boston Globe that “the playing field just got a little morelevel.”

Even in politically conservative areas, reported the League of Conserva-tion Voters, many pro-environment candidates did well by clearly distinguishingthemselves from opponents on such issues as clean air and water. “The environ-ment was unsuccessful as a wedge issue,” the group continued, “in races in whichthe contrast was not made clear because both candidates rhetorically claimedenvironmental leadership, even when the voting record clearly proved otherwise.”

The League claimed notable success in a number of key races. One suchoccurred in a traditionally Republican district in the Baltimore area where DemocratDutch Ruppersberger handily prevailed over Helen Bentley, an incumbentcongresswoman. According to the League this happened in large part, in a statewhere Republicans scored large overall gains, because Ruppersberger positionedBentley “as someone too close to corporate special interests who failed in Congressto protect the health of the district’s economic engine, the Chesapeake Bay.” URLs:www.lcv.org; www.lta.org

CommunityViz: Extensions of the PresentIn the first issue of Atlantic CoastWatch (December 1997) we described the

University of Connecticut’s NEMO (Non-Point Education for Municipal Officials)project that helps county officials and citizens understand the relationships betweenthe build out of zoning plans, land cover, the quality of water runoff and planningchoices. NEMO was among early efforts to use geographic information systems(GIS) specifically for community visualization and communication purposes. NEMOtook off smartly, expanding nationwide.

(Continued, p. 8)

News For Coastal Advocates

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Voters Still Green

CommunityViz

Sayings

Maine Seabird Tally

Publications

Courts & the Seashore

NE Fishery Gyrations

Saving Pelican Island

LI Sound Lobster Puzzles

Jersey Water Woes

Let’s Roll with Natives

Florida Reefs

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Recurring

People; Awards; Species &Habitats; Restorations;

Products; Funding;Report Cards

Atlantic CoastWatch is a bimonthlynonprofit newsletter for those inter-ested in the environmentally sound

development of the coastlinefrom the Gulf of Maine

to the Eastern Caribbean.

Atlantic CoastWatch

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November - December 2002

SayingsIn December 1997, the Sustainable Development Institute launched the

Atlantic CoastWatch newsletter. We felt that something had to be done to improvethe flow of information about coastal issues along the Atlantic seaboard from theeastern Caribbean to the Canadian Maritimes. Every two months since, we havedelivered our digest, free of charge. More recently we have added Coastal NewsNuggets, a weekly listing of daily headlines from the Atlantic coastal press andother sources. Our five-year benchmark seems a good moment to assess thebroad plusses and minuses observed along the shoreline.

To start with, we note with pleasure that several new providers of regionalcoastal information have chimed in. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s daily e-mailsummaries of area headlines, the MEPI service for the Gulf of Maine and theSCConservNet’s commercial service, are among them. Coastal web sites andlistserv groups have also proliferated.

Commercial media coverage of coastal issues, which long seemed to focuslargely on storm damage and stranded whales, has improved dramatically inquantity, range, and depth. Many newspapers and even some TV stations haveliberated reporters to prepare multi-part series on coastal issues. Two recentWashington Post series by Michael Grunwald—one on the Everglades, the otheron the US Army Corps of Engineers—are good examples. The editorial page ofthe New York Times has become a stalwart voice for coastal protection and theenvironment in general. Many smaller Atlantic coastal newspapers do a vital job ofcovering the coast close to home.

If polluters now face increasing media scrutiny, so too have they comeunder more persistent direct monitoring from local citizen watchdog groups.Riverkeepers, Baykeepers, stream, harbor and estuary watcher groups havepopped up seemingly everywhere. Small-plane pilots in North Carolina help scanthe coast. In a project that we hope will soon be replicated along the Atlantic coast,helicopter owner Kenneth Adelman and his wife Gabrielle have flown the entireCalifornia shoreline and photographed it in great detail. The images, which quicklybecame useful to government agencies, environmental groups, and plain citizens,are freely available on the Adelmans’ web site. As have many other local volun-teers , the Adelmans provided their service at no charge.

Recreational boaters, not always with great enthusiasm, have learned tobe more diligent about waste management. Their knuckles wrapped, cruise shipoperators are behaving less flagrantly badly. While flocks of Jet-skis whine androar and spew widely in our waters, at least their usage is better controlled withinan ever larger number of marine protected areas. And the manufacturers of thesemachines have at last started to offer cleaner and quieter motors. Marina opera-tors as well as coastal golf course managers had much to learn about how and whyto operate more greenly. In many places they are responding to new opportunitiesto operate wildlife and runoff friendly facilities.

Though many challenges remain, fishery management has improved, withbetter cooperation between regulators, scientists and the fishermen themselves.Especially heartening is evidence of self-regulation such as that achieved in recentyears by Maine lobstermen and inshore fishermen in St. Lucia. Aquaculture isgrowing fast, as are solutions to the problems it creates, as illustrated in Maine.

Large environmental groups have taken greater interest in the shorelinelately—mostly for the better. Too often, though, we hear of cases where they pickthe brains of well-experienced smaller organizations, then claim leadership as theyseek media attention and funding. The number of privately run local and regionalland trusts continues to grow, now laudably exceeding 1,200. Private and publicfinancial support for even the worthiest citizen efforts has, meanwhile, has beenmarkedly reduced in the wake of 9/11.

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Atlantic CoastWatch

Vol. 6, No. 6

A project of the SustainableDevelopment Institute, which seeksto heighten the environmental quality ofeconomic development efforts, incoastal and in forest regions, bycommunicating information about betterpolicies and practices. SDI is classifiedas a 501(c)(3) organization, exempt fromfederal income tax.

Board of Directors

Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr., ChairmanRobert J. Geniesse, Chairman EmeritusRoger D. Stone, PresidentHart Fessenden, TreasurerHassanali Mehran, SecretaryEdith A. CecilDavid P. HuntGay P. LordLee PettySimon Sidamon-Eristoff

Staff

Roger D. Stone, Director & PresidentShaw Thacher, Project ManagerRobert C. Nicholas III, Contr. EditorAnita G. Herrick, CorrespondentLaura W. Roper, Correspondent

Major Donors

Avenir FoundationThe Fair Play FoundationThe Curtis and Edith Munson

Foundation

With Appreciation

We extend very special thanks to thesedonors who, despite the many demandson their resources, generously providednew increments of support for theAtlantic CoastWatch program betweenOctober 29 and December 18 of thisyear:

Wendy W. BenchleyBarry R. BryanAnne P. CabotE. Paul CaseyNicholas MillhouseMrs. A. Wright PalmerLee M. PettyPrince Charitable TrustsDonald RappaportSimon Sidamon-EristoffMary M. Thacher

Sponsored Projects

Environmental Film Festival in theNation’s Capital, March 13-23, 2003

Sayings, Continued from p. 2

A major negative influence along the coastline is the relentless concentra-tion of new people, and the sprawl and contamination that accompany their arrival.Destruction of wetlands to make way for roads, developments and parking lots, hasreached a disturbing level despite regulatory controls. Incentives for builders andplanners to use “green” techniques, materials, or community designs are stillscarce but growing in number. Shorefront armoring protects homes from erosion,but replaces habitat and is harmful to many plant and animal species fromseagrasses to sea turtles. Beach nourishment projects are under heightenedsrutiny for ecological effects and costs vs. benefits.

Coral reefs are under greater stress than ever. Biodiversity generallycontinues to decrease. The prospects are dimming for many of our most cherishedseasonal wildlife visitors as their habitats shrink. Poor health among fish andshellfish populations continues to be all too commonplace resulting from pollutants,over-fishing, shifting water temperatures and habitat degradation.

Citizens continue to support ballot measures protecting the environment(see page 1). In many other ways, they manifest concern about coastal degrada-tion and threats to air and water quality. But, except for isolated examples such aseastern Long Island, New York, too many local elected officials remain indifferent tocalls for better coastal protection. Local regulation and rule-making vary in quality,with few indications of major improvements. Of Atlantic coastal state governors,none but New York’s George Pataki and Parris N. Glendening of Maryland (thelatter leaving office) have backed up stated concerns with positive actions.

Present on Capitol Hill are a few stalwart environmental champions such asCongressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), Sherwood Boehlert (R-New York),and Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland). But their efforts often run into crossfire fromfar-right property rights advocates and from powerful special interests. WhiteHouse support for environmental policies conducive to a cleaner seacoast, neverstrong in recent times, has reached a new nadir.

Overall, even with limited progress in some sectors, the need for aninformed citizenry to remain active and alert has never been greater. For our part,as long as the generosity of our readers and supporters enables us to keep onproviding information about critical coastal issues, we will continue and hopefullyimprove our services.

Maine Seabird TallyIn its November issue, Northern Sky News published a partial listing of

seabird factoids garnered from the recent Friends of Maine Seabird Islandsconference. Among them:

z Approximate number of razorbills seen rafted up along Grand MananIsland in a recent winter: 45,000

z Percentage of the US roseate tern population that lives on 3 islands: 87

z Percent increase in the US roseate tern population since 1987: 276

z Percentage of the US Atlantic puffin population nesting on 4 Gulf of Maineislands: 98

z Year the National Audubon Society began protecting puffins onMatinicus Rock: 1901

z Breeding pairs of puffins on Matinicus Rock that year: 2Minimum breeding pairs of puffins on Matinicus Rock today: 200URL: www.northernskynews.com

People

No citizen group has worked harder toprotect a stretch of coastline than theformer Committee to PreserveAssateague Island, now called theAssateague Coastal Trust. Recentlythe group marked a major stepforward with the appointment ofstructural engineer and marineresource manager Jay Charland, 37,as Assateague Coastkeeper.Charland’s range extends along theregion’s long ignored Coastal Baysfrom the Delaware-Virginia border tothe southern end of Assateague.E-mail: Coastkeeper@actforbays.org

New Jersey cranberry king J.Garfield DeMarco was long bestknown for his efforts to use politicalconnections to sidestep land useregulations and drain wetlands. Nowhe is prominent for a new reason: hisintent to sell 9,400 acres of his family’sholdings in the Pine Barrens to theNew Jersey Conservation Founda-tion for half the land’s true value. TheConservation Foundation is tryingto raise the requisite $12 million.Trilled The Press of Atlantic City: “Whata wonderful gift to the public, to theenvironment, and to future genera-tions.”

Awards

This year’s Lee Wulff ConservationAward, highest honor bestowed bythe Atlantic Salmon Foundation,went to Washingtonian E.U. Curtis“Buff” Bohlen. A seasoned publicservant with tours of duty both ingovernment and in private environ-mental organizations, Bohlen hasnegotiated many deals to help wildAtlantic salmon, most recently a long-term agreement to suspendGreenland’s commercial Atlanticsalmon fishery. As a result, 20,000additional salmon should spawn inCanadian and US rivers next year.URL: www.asf.org

After spending a day identifyingwetlands preservation and manage-ment strategies for the Meadowlands,the US Fish and Wildlife Serviceunexpectedly bestowed SpecialAppreciation Awards to Captain BillSheehan and Hugh M. Carola(Hackensack Riverkeeper, andProgram Director) and to Andrew

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Publicationsz The New York Times chose the often skeptical environmentalist, author andangler Robert H. Boyle to review The Founding Fish (Farrar, Straus & Giroux2002) by John McPhee. Boyle found surprisingly few faults and termed the book“that rarest of works, a fishing book that is far more than a fishing book. It is a mini-encyclopedia, a highly informative and entertaining amalgam of natural andpersonal history, a work in a class by itself.” The book, said Publishers Weekly,“sings like anglers’ lines cast in the water” and “runs with the wisdom of oceangoing shad.”

z Lavishly illustrated with 172 color photos, Coral Reefs, Cities Under theSea (Darwin Press 2002) is a visual as well as a verbal treat. The book was writtenby marine scientist and educator Richard Murphy, for many years a collaboratorwith the late Jacques-Yves Cousteau and currently a senior official with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society. It closely examines the structure,beauty, and fragility of coral reef systems.

z A gloomy new assessment of Chesapeake Bay politics foresees littlelikelihood for success of a cleanup effort now estimated to cost $19 billion if thegoals of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement are to be achieved by 2010. According tothe political scientist Howard Ernst, the principal reason is that politicians payserious attention only in the context of crises, losing interest during the “post-problem” phase. In his book Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, andthe Struggle to Save the Bay (to be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2003),Ernst urges environmental organizations to lobby far more fiercely than they haveif major gains are to be scored.

z A familiar name to many Maine boaters is Roger F. Duncan, who with co-authors produced what for many years was the standard-bearing cruising guide tothat coast. In 1992 he produced the hardcover edition of the comprehensiveCoastal Maine—A Maritime History. This work, about four centuries of marineactivity along the Maine shoreline, is well documented but also presented in anagreeable conversational style. “Sprightly,” Publishers Weekly called it. A paper-back edition was published in 2002 by Countryman Press.

Courts & the SeashoreAgainst the backdrop of the recent EPA decision permitting spraying of

some pesticides over open water, US District Court Judge John S. Martindismissed a Clean Water Act lawsuit by a coalition of environmental groups againstNew York City’s 1999 use of Anvil. In Florida a deadlier pesticide, Fenthion is thesubject of a lawsuit against EPA brought by Defenders of Wildlife, the AmericanBird Conservancy, and the Florida Wildlife Federation.

While EPA proposed limiting Fenthion’s use in 2001, voicing concerns abouthealth impacts on birds, golfers, homeowners and children, it has not yet rendereda final decision. In 1998 and 1999 the US Fish and Wildlife Service reported that200 birds on Florida’s Marco Island had died as the result of nearby Fenthionspraying. It also killed fiddler crabs there. University of Florida scientists alsochronicled Fenthion’s toxicity when the rare Schaus swallowtail nearly went extinctin the Florida Keys after nearby spraying.

In Washington, testifying in support of the EPA decision to open the CleanWater Act to pesticide applications, Benjamin Grumbles, EPA’s deputy adminis-trator for water programs stated that since 21,000 pesticides carry labels, theirapplication is already regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide andRetendicide Act.

4Wilner (NY/NJ Baykeeper). SaidSheehan: “It has always been mypleasure to assist the Service when-ever they have requested our help ingathering data about the Meadow-lands. To be recognized for just doingmy job is an unexpected honor.”

Among this year’s “Dirty Dozen” listof polluters identified by the ToxicsActions Center is the Alliance toProtect Nantucket Sound, alsoknown for its well-heeled PR campaignagainst proposed offshore windmillfarms. Said Toxics Actions Centerdirector Matt Wilson: “Posing asenvironmentalists, the Allianceconsists of business lobbyists for thefossil fuel industry, past owners ofpolluting mining companies, and anumber of business interests on theCape. Residents are calling on theAlliance to stop using delay tactics andmisrepresentations to block theconstruction of this facility.” Alsoopposing the Alliance’s campaign areGreenpeace USA, the NaturalResources Defense Council, theConservation Law Foundation andthe Union of Concerned Scien-tists.

Species & Habitats

With a per weight value nearly that ofgold, 32 species of seahorses gainedmuch needed protection under CITES(the United Nations Convention onInternational Trade in EndangeredSpecies). Prescribed by Asian medicalpractitioners for chest ailments andsexual dysfunction, these daintyestuarine dwelling denizens inhabitmuch of the northwest Atlantic region.They are also prized by aquarists whorarely are able to satisfy their finickyappetites. While the US initiatedCITES listing does not ban the trade orsale of 32 seahorse species, it doesrequire heightened monitoring andcontrols for those countries wherelocal populations are near the brink.URL: www.projectseahorse.org

Mating wading birds have risen innumber to levels not seen in theEverglades since the 1940s. Butrather than link the increase toimprovements in the region’s health,ornithologists suggest that the 68,750nests recorded this year reflect morean idealized sequence of weatherconditions and better water

NE Groundfishery GyrationsAmong fishery management specialists, the past year may be remem-

bered for the wavering course that US District Court Judge Gladys Kesslerfollowed in the direction of better protection for New England groundfish stocks.

At the end of 2001 Judge Kessler ruled completely in favor of five environ-mental groups. Their lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS) alleged that it had failed to manage groundfish stocks in New England asrequired under the 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA). By taking no measures toprevent overfishing and excessive bycatch under the SFA, Judge Kessler ruledNMFS had not followed its own policies designed to rebuild the stocks.

By April 2002 Judge Kessler rendered a further decision limiting the NewEngland groundfishery geographically, and reducing most boats to a handful ofdays at sea per year. Within weeks Judge Kessler vacated that decision and in Maypermitted a more liberal agreement generated by commercial fishermen, environ-mental and governmental groups, as to how days at sea are calculated. This rulingalso reopened two areas in Maine. Many, including some politicians, applauded thisas a reasonable compromise.

In September, commercial fishermen observing fish survey methodsaboard the aptly named RV Albatross IV noticed that trawls were being set out ofbalance because cables holding the net were miscalibrated. As a result, numerousspecies were undercounted, slipping out the sides, while some fish under theKessler rulings, such as skate and cod, likely escaped the net entirely as it driftedaway from the bottom.

Even though fish populations are not primarily estimated based on thetrawls, this undercounting prompted accusations that bad policy had emerged frombad numbers. And so it came to pass that in early December, the Judge grantednortheast Atlantic fishermen a nine-month reprieve. She ordered a delay inimplementing the May 2002 federal ruling until 2004 to permit analysis of the trawlerrors. The pause provides time for NMFS to undertake longer-term speciesmanagement efforts, and for fishermen and scientists to collaborate closely in thequest for improvements in stock estimation processes. URL: www.clf.org

Saving Pelican IslandIn 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order

establishing Pelican Island, at the southern end of Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, asthe first refuge of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Roosevelt was keen to keepthe craze for feathered hats from wiping out the brown pelican. Pelican Island, thenmeasuring 5.5 acres, was home to their last known rookery.

Host to more than 30 bird species including egrets, herons, terns, andcormorants, and to threatened and endangered storks, manatees, sea turtles,snakes, bald eagles and piping plovers, Pelican Island is now reduced to just 2.2acres. Much of the island’s erosion is blamed on boat wakes from nearby develop-ments, known to sweep away delicate mangrove and marsh grass roots, and to alesser degree storms and pollutants.

70% of the erosion has occurred since 1960, with 55% of the island lostsince 1970. Doing nothing to stop it, predicts refuge manager Paul Tritaik, “wouldresult in the island eroding to the point where it would disappear.” With the centen-nial celebration pending, the question then is how to buttress or protect what’s leftof it.

(Continued, p. 6)

5management. The prior mating highwas in 2000 with 40,000 nestssurveyed; 200,000 was the peakrecorded in the 1940s. One concern:only 3% of wading birds in theEverglades are breeding in traditionallocations, suggesting the extent towhich natural water flows remaindiverted from where they were 60years past.

Restorations

A Navy-funded study recently inEnvironmental Science and Technol-ogy reveals a previously unprovedability of microbes to devour polycy-clic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) leftin harbors from fuel spills, creosote-treated pilings and other industrialactivities. Co-author Derek Lovley, amicrobiologist at the University ofMassachusetts—Amherst, showedthat because of the microbes’ ability tometabolize sulfites in sea water, PAHsbroke down 20-25% after 338 days.As an example, Lovley estimated thatmicrobes might cleanse BostonHarbor in 20 years, barring any majorfuel leaks. Some cautioned that whilecontaminants may naturally break-down, others remain unaffected, andthat the study’s simulation may notduplicate harbor conditions. Never-theless they welcomed the news.

EPA, the Connecticut Departmentof Environmental Protection andthe New York Department ofEnvironmental Conservationrecently signed an agreement aimedat restoring Long Island Sound by2014, the 400th anniversary of itsexploration by Adriaen Block.Reducing bathing beach and shellfishclosures, restoring river runs formigratory fish, and improving impor-tant marine-life habitats are among 30goals approved, along with $4 millionof new EPA funding for Sound relatedprojects. The agreement builds uponthe Comprehensive Conservation andManagement Plan approved by thestates and the EPA in 1994, andmonitored by the Long Island SoundPolicy Committee. Near term objec-tives include the nomination of thePawcatuck and Mystic rivers and allLong Island Sound embayments inNew York as federal No DischargeAreas, and the mapping, by the end of2003, of areas in the Sound thatsupport eelgrass.

LI Sound Lobster PuzzlesAfter a burst of coordinated study on the mortality of Long Island Sound’s

lobsters, some noteworthy but not yet conclusive findings are emerging from 17separate research projects. No single smoking gun explains the extreme lobsterdie-off observed between 1999-2000. Most researchers suggest a confluence offactors and events that may be keeping harvests in the central and eastern Soundat 40% of 1998’s level, and 10% in western Sound waters.

The University of Connecticut’s examination of malathion, widely andcontroversally sprayed against West Nile Virus mosquitoes, found that even whenoperating at non-fatal, minute levels, it diminishes a lobster’s immune system byreducing the ability of blood to process foreign substances by roughly half. Whilethis finding may help explain the widespread prevalence of a parasite among deadlobsters from 1999-2000, the ailment is usually not fatal to lobster populations. Anearlier study by New York City’s health department found that if pesticides wereapplied immediately prior to a major stormwater event (such as 1999’s HurricaneFloyd) lobster mortality resulted in nearby bays.

Though not part of the coordinated research started in 2001, a new findingby Cornell University’s Alistair Dove suggests another way for stormwaterflows and pulses to affect lobster mortality. August 2002 produced a new spate oflobster deaths, with many displaying “orange” blood, said to result from exposureto temperatures above their 69 degree Fahrenheit tolerance. At higher tempera-tures, Dove hypothesizes, calcium carbonate in lobster blood precipitates into sandgrain sized crystals. Functioning like gallstones, these tiny pebbles can clog alobster’s gills, cutting off oxygen.

Dove’s theory ties lobster mortality to climate change, and a shifting of thepopulation’s southern boundary further northward. But several arguments suggestthat temperature is not the only factor in play. In Rhode Island’s coastal bays,lobsters successfully survive higher temperatures. Moreover, temperature changecarries with it other factors that may affect lobster disease and mortality: algalgrowth that depletes oxygen on the seafloor, and the arrival of hydrogen sulfidesand other chemistry-changing ions in the water. What remains unclear is whethernearly $10 million for all this research will result in findings that result in newpolicies—or just more research.

Pelican Island, Continued from p. 5

A combined federal and private operation, “Save Pelican Island” dropped250 tons of oyster shells from helicopters in the spring of 2001. The idea was toestablish wave barriers within the refuge’s 2,700 submerged acres. That effortmerely slowed erosion.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has offered to bolster Pelican withbottom dredging materials sucked up from the Intra-coastal Waterway and to pay75% of the estimated $1.75 million price tag. One option is to place the dredgespoils directly on the island. But, Corps project manager Don Fore told the OrlandoSentinel, “We don’t know if the US Fish and Wildlife Service would let us do that.They have a philosophy that they don’t want to do anything unnatural, and we haveto respect that position.” An alternative Corps proposal is to apply dredge spoils notto the island itself, but to bolster nearby barrier shoals. But a group of 30-40 nearbyhomeowners called the Shoreliners has mounted a campaign against the removalof dredging materials from existing spoil islands, arguing they will lose beachfront.

One way or another, allowing Pelican Island to go under seems not to be anoption. But the jury remains out on how to keep this island above sea level.

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Products

Alert to warnings of environmentaldamage caused by conventional deckcleaners, Charlotte Observer reporterSandy Hill set forth this fall in searchof nontoxic alternatives. Avoidingchlorine, she mixed odorless oxygenbleach cleanser with water, thenscrubbed her deck vigorously. Greenand black discoloration faded, and theold deck came to look “as clean as itusually gets.” Sandy later finished thejob by using a paint brush to apply awater-based synthetic sealer.

Funding

According to a report in CommonGround, the newsletter published bythe Conservation Fund, L.L. Beanhas donated $1 million to Friends ofAcadia in Bar Harbor, Maine. Themoney will be used to ferry visitors inand out of heavily-used AcadiaNational Park aboard fare-freepropane-powered buses. The gift,says the article, “is the first corporatecontribution to nonprofit publictransportation in national parks.”

Among the plethora of specialtylicense plates available in Massachu-setts, state authorities recently stated,the most popular is the one featuringthe right whale. Purchases of this plate(at $40 a crack) account for $9.4million of the total $19.5 million theprogram has raised since it waslaunched in 1995. The whale moneygoes to the state’s Environmental Trustfor distribution to environmentalprojects. Since 1993, Connecticut’s$50 Preserve the Sound plate hasprovided over $3.6 million for publicaccess, education, research, andhabitat restoration activities.

A foundation sponsored by BoatUSprovides grants to nonprofit organiza-tions of up to $2,000 for projects “tosupport education and hands-onefforts aimed at cleaning up ourboating environment.” Applicationsare due by February 1, 2003. URL:www.boatus.com

Maryland faces a $1.8 billion budgetshortfall. The state’s pro-environmentGovernor Parris N. Glendening ispreparing to leave his office in thehands of a less green successor. At

this transitional moment the statefound itself weighing a golden oppor-tunity to protect more than 27,000acres of open space in 7 counties insouthern Maryland and on its easternshore. In a set of purchase of develop-ment rights and land acquisition dealsco-brokered by the state’s Depart-ment of Natural Resources and theConservation Fund, the state wouldhave to come up with only about $6.9million in front money ($19 million inall) to fund the second biggest landpreservation deal in the state’s history.Some called it a great proposal forflusher times. But the Baltimore Suncalled it a priceless “gift to the future.”After a rancorous debate, the 3-member Board of Public Worksapproved the project despite misgiv-ings by two of its members. For thethird, Glendening, their affirmationwas a nice farewell present.

Report Cards

The Natural Resources DefenseCouncil issued Cape May to Montauk:A Coastal Protection Report Card. Thereport contains information as-sembled over three years from 169municipalities and various state andfederal agencies about the region’sheroes and villains. Its “Dirty Dozen”most egregious polluters are listed,along with 66 jurisdictions creditedwith doing an “outstanding” job ofregulating and permitting. Many ofthe latter are on eastern Long Island.

In its 2002 National EnvironmentalScorecard, the League of Conserva-tion Voters as usual accorded topmarks to Northeastern senators andrepresentatives for their votingrecords on environmental issues.Mid-Atlantic states fared almost aswell. Only the Rocky Mountain regionscored worse that the Southeast.

On a stormy night in September 1969a barge hit a sandy shoal in BuzzardsBay, MA, and 600 gallons of oil spilled.Some of this drifted into WestFalmouth’s Wild Harbor marsh, killingbirds and other species. Though the oilwas thought to have disappeared,Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution scientists recently founddeposits just under the surface, asfresh and lethal as ever. Lack ofoxygen in the mud may have pre-served the oil, reports the WHOI team.

Jersey Water WoesNew Jersey, the nation’s most densely populated state, suffered severe

water shortages from drought last summer. Experts say the situation may recur.The state has lagged in cleaning up its waterways, and under EPA prodding isbelatedly taking corrective steps to deal with its management of surface water. Tocomplicate matters new indications of health hazards in some of New Jersey’s 1million privately owned wells, the result of testing required before homes are sold,are greatly exceeding expectations.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)recently reported that of 1,082 wells recently tested 28% contained primary healththreatening contaminants, such as lead, nitrates, coliform bacteria or volatileorganic compounds (VOCs). Altogether, 72% of wells failed at least one waterquality test, most showing the presence of secondary contaminants consideredbenign to human health. Many of the serious pollutants were below levels consid-ered hazardous. DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell expressed surpriseat the high rates found to date. Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s NewJersey Chapter, pointed to the VOCs found as an indication that undetected con-taminating sites are polluting groundwater. He added that the high bacteria andnitrate failures indicate overreliance on septic systems in rural and coastal areas.

While the results so far are preliminary, the high levels of incidencereported are already bringing calls for action. Existing legislation would result intesting after the sale of 20,000 to 30,000 homes a year and (after March 14, 2004)for all rental properties using well water. Still, state lawmakers are alreadyconsidering mandatory tests for all wells, perhaps as often as once a year. WhileCampbell is not yet advocating mandatory tests across the board, his agency andenvironmental groups advise well owners to check their water quality annually.

Problems include the cost of well testing, between $450-600. No publicfunding is available to help low-budget homeowners check the extent and sourcesof pollution found, or to enforce mandatory testing if required. In addition, currentlaw does not require that problem wells be corrected (at an estimated cost of$2,500 for equipment, or potentially more for joining public water systems). With99.9% of privately owned well not tested, there is considerable uncertainty to costaand rates of contamination. Should they remain at current levels, serious changesin the state’s water management practices can be anticipated.

Let’s Roll with NativesOf 1,400 exotic plants, 94 are most responsible for environmental and

economic harm, engulfing 4,600 acres per day, sapping $7.4 billion per annum fromagricultural productivity and requiring an additional $3.6-5.4 billion to defend crops.Given such numbers and the importance of native habitat for endangered andmigratory species, the Federal Interagency Committee on Noxious andExotic Weeds is developing strategies to encourage landowners to go “native.”

Three pre-existing funds are available in support of such endeavors, andare soliciting applicants. The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Landowner Incen-tive Program and Private Stewardship Grants, with a combined $50 million avail-able, are geared for habitat preservation and restoration supporting endangeredspecies. The USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program will share native landscap-ing costs, based on the extent of a property’s conversion and whether it is within apriority zone.

URLs: www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip; endangered.fws.gov/grants;ficmnew.fws.gov

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Atlantic CoastWatchSustainable Development Institute3121 South St., NWWashington, D.C. 20007

Tel: (202) 338-1017Fax: (202) 337-9639E-mail: susdev@igc.orgURL: www.susdev.orgwww.atlanticcoastwatch.org

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FL Reefs Face New DangersCoral reefs and the many species that benefit from

them endure many assaults. These include the effects ofglobal warming, pollution, accidental ship groundings, andfishing by trawling and through the use of explosives. Nowfiber-optic cables and a proposed gas pipeline through reefareas are posing new threats and questions.

In south Florida there now exists a network of fiberoptic cables strung through reef areas to provide internationaltelecommunications links. According to a recent study com-missioned by two telecommunications companies and con-ducted by Public Employees for Environmental Respon-sibility such cables sway because of coastal currents andwave action, doing near-irreparable harm when they brush upagainst reef structures. Florida officials are currently consider-ing tightening the rules governing the installation of the fiber-optics, though the state’s position as the “telecommunicationsgateway” to the Caribbean and Latin America is an economi-cally enviable one. Under consideration are rules that wouldbar new fiber-optic cable laying south of Miami, while encour-aging it in sandy offshore areas to the north.

Last year AES Corporation bought Ocean Cay, amanmade Bahamian island about 50 miles east of Miami, andannounced its intention to build there a $1.3 billion complex ofpower and natural gas plants. The company proposes to buildan undersea natural gas pipeline from the Bahamas to energyhungry South Florida. The pipeline would be threaded throughgaps in coral reefs or installed underneath the reefs afterhorizontal drilling, with construction to begin next year and becompleted by 2006.

This proposal was not universally applauded at arecent community meeting in Dianna Beach, Florida. Accord-ing to an Associated Press report, project manager DonBartlett said that he understands concerns about the reefsthrough which the 95-mile steel pipeline would pass. Regula-tory agencies, he added, would make sure the pipeline wouldbe installed in a way that would do no damage to the reefs.Some locals remain unconvinced.

CommunityViz, Continued from p. 1

Concurrently counties were just beginning toexplore possible GIS uses. In more recent years manycoastal counties have realized robust GIS applications thatmanage taxes, assist zoning and conservation planning, orroute school buses, among other county level applications.Often, however, even with plenty of town in hand, plannershave felt that GIS delivered a static picture of their commu-nity—maps that reflect the past and the present only.

Enter CommunityViz, a GIS extension created anddesigned by the Orton Family Foundation to facilitateplace based decisionmaking by employing the same GISdatasets many counties have already built. By combiningcounty data with a variety of social, environmental andeconomic indicators, current realities can be modeledagainst the future. Carol Baker, GIS administrator for SouthKingston and Shoreham, Rhode Island and president of theNortheast Arc Users Group, described CommunityViz as“GIS on steroids.”

CommunityViz does not simply extrapolate acounty’s economic, social or environmental scenarios, orproject land use planning, or display maps three-dimension-ally. It also enables town planners and county level govern-ing boards to communicate and discuss with citizens whatthey want their towns to look like and how to reflect thosevalues that define their sense of community. Throughout thedialogue, CommunityViz permits proposed developments tobe projected into the future and compared with community-designed aspirations.

Since CommunityViz and NEMO use similar visualforecasting to stimulate discussion of common goals, it isfortunate that they have begun to work together. As aresult, one can expect impermeability and water runoffquality analysis to become new dimensions ofCommunityViz. This new feature will render the systemespecially useful for county officials concerned with theeffects of their policies upon the coastal zone. URLS:www.communityviz.com; nemo.uconn.edu