Atlantic CoastWatch JULY-AUGUST 2000

Erosion Facts and Threats

News For Coastal Advocates
Recently the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and
the Environment issued a detailed evaluation of coastal erosion’s economic
hazards. The study, commissioned by the Federal Emergency Management Erosion Costs 1
Agency (FEMA), covers the entire US coastline. Within it are some chilling
nuggets of information for Atlantic coastal property owners: Greener Halifax 1
v Of 170,000 structures along the 2,300-mile Atlantic coastline that are Sayings 2
outside cities but located within 500 feet of the shore, 53,000 are on land expected
to be lost to erosion over the next 60 years. In all of the US, 87,000 houses fall
within the 60-year Erosion Hazard Area (EHA). Key Chesapeake Decision 3

v Property values shrink as the shore grows closer. According to data Boat Sales Boom 3
derived from an exhaustive 10,000-house survey, says the report, “a house that is
100 feet from the shoreline, but expected to reach the water in 50 years, is esti-
mated to be worth about 90% of an identical house also located 100 feet from the
Boston Harbor Eco-Tours 4
shoreline, but expected to reach the water in 200 years. Similarly, a house esti-
mated to be within 10 to 20 years of an eroding shore is worth 80% of one located Publications 4
200 years away.” Applying these numbers to the 53,000 Atlantic coastal houses
within the 60-year EHA, the Heinz Center attributes a current loss in property Hudson Valley Threats
values to those owners of between $1.7 billion and $2.7 billion.
5

v Shoreline erosion causes average annual casualty losses of $320 million Angling Guidelines 5
to current property owners along the Atlantic coast. Equivalent figures are $50
million for the Gulf coast, $110 million for the Pacific coast, and $50 million for the Halibut Farming 6
Great Lakes.

v As for the nation as a whole, erosion is likely to claim one in four Atlantic
Defining an Eco-Port 6
coastal homes over the next 60 years. (The dangers are high even along the rocky
Maine coast, where according to one geologist erosion proceeds at the fastest clip z
in the last several thousand years.)

Broadly, the Heinz Center study concludes that erosion threats are Recurring:
insufficiently factored into insurance rates under FEMA’s National Flood Insurance
Program, and that policyholders in areas not prone to erosion will increasingly
have to subsidize erosion losses unless the program changes. The study warns,
People; Species & Habitats;
moreover, that additional development in erosion-prone areas, coupled with Restorations; Report Cards;
accelerating sea-level rise, may worsen the problem. URL: www.heinzcenter.org Products; Funding; Job Open-
ings; Upcoming Events

Halifax Greening Up
Atlantic CoastWatch is a bimonthly
For decades, torrents of pollution have been flowing into the busy harbor nonprofit newsletter, free of charge,
of Halifax, Nova Scotia. According to one recent estimate, some 187 million liters for those interested in the
of raw sewage a day form part of this unsavory soup. But after all the years of environmentally sound develop-
neglect, the city and its region are now making what local researcher and environ- ment of the coastline from the Gulf
mentalist Ron Colman calls “some real effort to consider environmental issues of Maine to the Eastern Caribbean.
more seriously.” The newsletter is available on paper
(Continued, p. 6) and at www.susdev.org

Atlantic CoastWatch
Vol. 4, No. 4
A project of the Sustainable
Development Institute, which seeks
to heighten the environmental quality
of economic development efforts, in
coastal and in forest regions, by
communicating information about
better policies and practices. SDI is
classified as a 501(c)(3) organization,
exempt from federal income tax.
2
Sayings
(The comment that follows was sent by Cynthia Valencic, vice president for
programs at the nonprofit Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF)
in Tallahassee)
Despite compelling evidence from its own files that deep well injection has
been a 20-year-old failed experiment, EPA has proposed a rule that will legalize
contamination of Florida’s drinking water with sewage. For 20 years, deep injection
wells that cause movement of injected fluid (sewage) into underground sources of
drinking water have been prohibited. Yet, for 20 years, government has allowed
these kinds of wells to operate.

Board of Directors Now, EPA is trying to fix the problem by legalizing it. EPA is basing its rule
on a number of flawed considerations:
Robert J. Geniesse, Chairman
Roger D. Stone, President v EPA claims that the injected waste will be treated so that it will not be
Hart Fessenden, Treasurer harmful. Yet the proposed treatment will not account for all contaminants likely to
Hassanali Mehran, Secretary be injected. Viruses and pathogens, along with toxic materials, are of particular
Edith A. Cecil concern.
David P. Hunt
Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr. v EPA says the rule is needed to address existing wastewater disposal
Gay P. Lord needs. Yet, the number of existing facilities qualifying for the rule has increased
from 3 to 42 in the two years since EPA first released its draft rule.
Advisers
v EPA says that there are no alternatives to deep wells, because of the need
William H. Draper III to protect surface waters. Given that the proposed rule would exempt 24 counties
Joan Martin-Brown in Florida from the federal Safe Water Drinking Act, it fails to recognize the efforts of
the remaining 43 counties in the state and many others throughout the country that
Scientific Advisory Council rely on alternatives to deep well injection.
Gary Hartshorn The day of reckoning is upon EPA. It must put its efforts into solving the
Stephen P. Leatherman problem of wastewater disposal in Florida and stop trying to hide the problem
Jerry R. Schubel under the shell of the earth. URL: www.leaf-envirolaw.org
Christopher Uhl

Staff
z

Roger D. Stone, Director & President (In a recent letter to the Baltimore Sun, Lee Epstein, director of the lands program
Shaw Thacher, Project Manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, offered the following succinct definition of
Robert C. Nicholas III, Contributing what is meant by “Smart Growth”)
Editor
Laura W. Roper, Correspondent Smart Growth is about putting growth in the right place, near existing
Lisa Shooner, Assistant development and infrastructure and not eating up the farms and forests and stream
valleys that people love. It’s about increasing density, without overwhelming
2000 Major Donors neighborhoods with wildly out-of-scale buildings or homes. It’s also about good
design and diversity.
Avenir Foundation
The Fair Play Foundation Attention to good design can provide adequate privacy as well as a nice
The M.O. & M.E. Hoffman Foundation home and lot, local amenities such as parks for kids and easier (dare I say car-less?)
Mad River Foundation commutes and errands. Diversity involves diversity of land use, so stores and even
The Moore Charitable Foundation some offices can be close-by. It also means diversity of housing type and price, so
The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation the new or “in-filled” community doesn’t just shut its doors to its own teachers,
office-workers, policemen and librarians. And, of course, we hope there is also
Sponsored Projects diversity of race and culture. (Continued, p. 3)

Trees for DC Appeal

Environmental Film Festival in the
Nation’s Capital Fully tax-deductible contributions to the Sustainable Development
Printed by Ecoprint on 20% postconsumer waste paper
Institute, earmarked for Atlantic CoastWatch, are urgently needed. They
using vegetable oil based inks free of toxic metals.
may be sent to us at 3121 South St., NW, Washington, DC, 20007.
 3
People
Site 104 Dumped Among environmental organizations
naming new leadership is Scenic
Late in June, Maryland Governor Parris Glendening ended a spirited Hudson of Poughkeepsie, NY, which
multi-year debate by halting plans to dump dredge spoils (mud) from shipping announced the election of business
channels into a stretch of open water near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. leader Marjorie L. Hart as its Board
Chair. New President of the New
Proponents of using this area, known as Site 104, had stressed the rela- Jersey Conservation Foundation in
tively low cost of open water dumping in the Bay, the economic need to keep the Far Hills is Princeton attorney and
port of Baltimore competitive, and the lack of scientific evidence that using the site philanthropist Samuel L. Lambert III.
would harm oysters, fish, and other marine life. URL: www.scenichudson.org,
www.njconservation.org
But this year, asked to re-evaluate previous findings that the dredged
material would do no such harm, the US Army Corps of Engineers cited recent After seven years as the keeper of the
tests that showed traces of toxins in mud from the shipping channels. With this Neuse River in North Carolina, Rick
evidence in hand and the ink scarcely dry on the new ten-year interstate pact on Dove has resigned to become a staff
Bay improvement targets (Atlantic CoastWatch May/June 2000), Glendening made member of the fast-growing, New York
his move. based Water Keeper Alliance.
Atlantic CoastWatch readers (Febru-
“We will not do anything that would have a negative impact on the bay,” he ary 1998) may recall Dove’s pioneer-
said. “We will find alternatives that will protect the future of the port without ing initiative to recruit recreational
compromising the health of the Bay.” small-plane pilots as volunteer
pollution watchers. Replacing Dove as
Environmental activists, many of whom had toiled long and hard to get the Neuse River Keeper, based in New
state to dump Site 104, heralded the decision as a major triumph. Less clear is how Bern, is environmental scientist Tom
the state will manage to dispose of the 4 million or so cubic yards of mud that must Jones, who comes to the task after 13
be removed each year to keep Baltimore’s port open. URL: www.bayjournal.com years of service at the state’s Depart-
ment of Environment and Natural
Resources. URL:www.neuseriver.org
Boom for Boat Builders NOAA has named Sonja Fordham,
a shark conservation specialist and
New boat sales have soared, reports the National Marine Manufactur- fisheries project manager at the
ers Association. Since the 10% luxury tax on large yachts was rescinded in 1993, Center for Marine Conservation in
after 3 years of a slack market and intensive lobbying, annual sales have climbed Washington, DC, as an “Environmental
49% for power boats and a whopping 183% for sailboats. The increases apply Hero.” Fordham has worked at CMC
across the board—to small and large vessels alike. for 9 years. URL: www.cmc-ocean.org

A variety of factors have contributed to the boom, says the association. Frank B. Mather, a founder and
Foremost, of course, is the general strength of the economy. Psychologically, even emeritus director of the National
though the luxury tax applied only to the more expensive yachts, its removal was a Coalition for Marine Conservation
plus. (NCMC) died at the age of 89. Back in
the mid-1960s Mather first became
Boat financing through banks has become far easier and more common- concerned about overexploitation of
place. The sailing industry contracted during the 1980s, and the result has been a bluefin tuna stocks, helping convince
smaller number of stronger sailboat builders; one reason the percentage jump is so the US Congress that the US should
impressive is that it began from a very low base. join the International Convention for
the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT). Lamenting in NCMC’s Marine
Sayings, Continued from p. 2 Bulletin that Mather had never been
properly recognized, the organization’s
chairman Chris Weld went on to note
There are would-be neighbors and neighborhoods that fight anything
his “uncanny ability to spot the exact
different. Some merely fear change. Some fear loss of “quality of life”. Some
point where scientific reality ended
really do fear adverse environmental impact. But it would be wrong to characterize
and bureaucratic obfuscation took
this as a prevailing view. And it would be wrong to think that they might not just
over.” URL: www.savethefish.org
come around, given the opportunity to see how growth can be done right.
Bill Rice, a leading coastal conserva-
I am convinced that people oppose denser development because they
tion advocate from Onslow County,
have seen little growth to like—and don’t trust their local governments to ever say
NC, died at age 87. He was moving
no to more and more again after that. The alternative to Smart Growth is uncon-
oysters to cleaner waters when a
trolled sprawl that will continue to gobble up open land and cause more traffic
large yacht’s wake capsized his boat.
congestion and the decline of towns and inner suburbs. URL: www. cbf.org

Species & Habitats
Of 21 seabird species that nest in the
West Indies, reports the Society of
Caribbean Ornithology, more than
half are “of conservation concern”
with 6 listed as “critically endan-
gered.” Among the species in trouble
are all 6 endemic to the region (found
nowhere else): the black-capped and
the Jamaican petrel, Audubon’s
shearwater, white-tailed tropicbird,
brown pelican, and Cayenne tern.
Among the reasons for the decline,
the Society noted, is the irony that
“while West Indian seabird colonies
have become attractions for the
region’s ecotourism industry, this in
turn is contributing to their rapid
demise.” E-mail
leodouglas@cwjamaica.com
The Puerto Rican parrot, a species
once so abundant that flocks darkened
the sky, is now reduced to some 40
individuals living in the wild. Habitat
destruction from storms and develop-
ment, hunting, and the pet trade have
all contributed to the near-extinction of
this bird, now among the world’s ten
most endangered bird species. For
many years, the US Fish and
Wildlife Service, the US Forest
Service, and the Puerto Rico
Department of Natural and
Environmental Resources have
collaborated on a captive breeding
program that currently supports some
120 birds. From this stock, for the first
time in history, reports Environmen-
tal News Network, ten birds were
recently released into the wild of what
is known as El Yunque—the Caribbean
National Forest of Puerto Rico. The
carefully prepared release is the first
step in what is hoped will be an
increase in the bird’s wild population
to at least 100 individuals over the
coming decade. URL: www.enn.com
Restorations
At the University of Delaware’s
Halophyte Biotechnology Center,
reports Delaware Sea Grant,
botanist Jack Gallagher is coming up
with a new way to block the spread of
the invasive species Phragmites
australis into saltmarsh areas.
Normally, wetlands managers zap
these reeds with herbicide in the fall,
then burn dead cane in the spring.
4
Publications
Subdivide and Conquer, by Jeff Gersh and Chelsea Congdon, is a
tidy video exploration of the causes and consequences of sprawl and an excellent
way to launch a community or classroom discussion of the issues. Set in the US
West, the program explores themes that are widely pertinent and well suited to the
needs and interests of Atlantic coastal viewers. 27 and 57 minute versions are
available from Bullfrog Films. URL: www.bullfrogfilms.com
Another such video is Living Waters: Exploring Watersheds and
Stream Ecology of Montgomery County and the Chesapeake Bay Region
by Ginny Barnes. Produced for the Audubon Naturalist Society and the Glen
Preservation Foundation. In 30 minutes, this straightforward production pro-
vides succinct information about the importance of careful watershed management
and what can be done to achieve this. Once again, the significance of this film
extends well beyond its own geographical limits. Tel. (301) 652-9188.
Anyone who thinks of the state as all smokestacks and rundown cities,
reports the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, would be well advised to
look through New Jersey: The Natural State (Rutgers University Press 2000) by
photographer Dwight Hiscano. Capturing the diversity of this small state in what
reviewer Michele S. Byers called “stunning photography,” Hiscano reminds us
both of how much there still is to preserve there and of how rapidly those values
can be destroyed.
In The Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard,
and Nantucket (A John Macrae Book/Henry Holt & Company 2000), author Paul
Schneider whisks the reader on a brisk tour across time, from geological prehis-
tory to the recent predations of ubiquitous McMansion homebuilders. Writing up
the book for New York Times Book Review, the often grumpy Paul Theroux found
Schneider’s coverage “engrossing.” Among a few quibbles, the reviewer questions
whether the fast-degrading Cape and Islands region is quite as “enduring” as the
author’s title suggests.
Red tides, brown tides, mahogany tides, Pfiesteria, ciguatera. With more
and more public attention devoted to algae and what happens when they bloom or
die, and how they affect people, a timely appearance is that of Algae: A
Sourcebook for Teaching About Harmful Algal Blooms by Norman D.
Anderson and Harriett S. Stubbs (Kendall/Hunt 2000). The book is the seventh
publication in the Changes in the Environment Series produced by the Sci-Link
Globe-Net Projects at North Carolina State University. Tel. Kendall-Hunt at (800)
542-6657.
Heartbeats in the Muck: A Dramatic Look at the History, Sea Life,
and Environment of New York Harbor (Lyons Press 1999) offers a fascinating
potpourri of information about this neglected, recovering body of water. The
authoritative author is fisherman and icthyologist John Waldman of the Hudson
River Foundation. “Life in New York Harbor, stressed but resilient, overlooked but
omnipresent, eternal yet surprising, goes on and on,” he concludes.
Eco-Touring Boston Harbor
Once a “contaminated embarrassment,” says EPA New England admin-
istrator Mindy Lubber, Boston Harbor has become “one of New England’s great
recreational treasures.” In 1996 the 30 small islands in the vastly cleaner harbor
became part of the national park system. Gradually expanding ferry service from
Long Wharf, adjacent to the downtown New England Aquarium, is beginning to
provide public access to these long-hidden wonders.
 5
Sometimes, however, the Phragmites
manage to recolonize, thus further
postponing wetlands restoration
Hudson Valley Endangered Again efforts. Currently, with support from
Sea Grant and from Public Service
Decades of spirited effort to improve the environmental quality of the Electric and Gas, Gallagher and
Hudson River Valley, sharply declining during the 1960s, seemed to have been colleagues are experimenting with
working. Con Edison was defeated at Storm King. Fines levied on Exxon, caught several prospective “Phrag
flushing tanker water tanks in mid-river, benefitted the river environment. blockers”—tough-rooted marsh
plants, such as the black needle rush,
Currently, reports the New York Times, after decades of debate, EPA is that can arrest the migration of
edging close to a decision to require General Electric to remove accumulations of Phragmites back into zones where it
toxic PCB’s from the river bottom near Albany. Swimmers, water skiiers, and can crowd out grasses far more
resurging fish populations attest to water quality improvements in many parts of important for wildlife food and habitat.
the ecosystem. URL: www.ocean.udel.edu/seagrant/

Still, reported the National Trust for Historic Preservation this year, Report Cards
the 125 mile stretch of the Hudson Valley from New York City to Albany is threat-
ened by a new “tidal wave of industrial development and sprawl” and merits a Interviewed by Soundings, atmo-
place on its annual list of most endangered places. It is the first such designation for spheric scientist William Gray of
the region since 1988, when the Trust began compiling its annual lists. The new Colorado State University fore-
trouble, said the Trust, stems from a burst of reindustrialization including half a casted an “active” hurricane season
dozen proposed new power plants and factories, suburban sprawl and a prolifera- this year. The average season, he
tion of mega-stores, and loss of open space. Groups including Scenic Hudson had said, brings 9 named storms, 6
encouraged the Trust to declare the valley as an endangered site. “Although the hurricanes, and 2 intense hurricanes.
designation does not bring money,” reported the New York Times, “it does bring This year, he predicted, there will be
renewed public attention to the issue of overdevelopment.” 12 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4
intense hurricanes. His team sees
A new threat for the river, reported Nina F. Caraco in the April 1 issue of more storms than usual making
Environmental Science and Technology, is the zebra mussel. The small Eurasian landfall this year, and estimates a 71%
mollusk arrived in the Great Lakes in the 1980s aboard oceangoing ships, and was chance that the US coast will get hit by
first found in the Hudson in 1991. Billions of these creatures now reside there and at least one major hurricane. URL:
have been accused of disrupting water supplies by clogging pipes and consuming www.soundings.com
small plants called phytoplankton that feed many other marine species.
Data compiled by the Massachusetts
Now, Caraco and her colleagues at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies Public Interest Research Group
in Millbrook, NY have found, the filter-feeding zebra mussels are also guilty of confirm that more of the state’s
sucking up so much dissolved oxygen from the water that other species may be beaches are “now open for swimming
compelled to flee or die in some places along the river. The danger peaks during the more often” than 20 years ago. Even
summer when higher temperatures accelerate the mussels’ activity and generally so, a Mass-PIRG report continues,
lower oxygen levels prevail. So if the mussels make the river look somewhat since 1991 there have been at least
better by clarifying its water through their feeding, they in fact represent yet 828 beach closings or advisories in the
another new danger for the ecosystem’s stability. URLs: www.nationaltrust.org; state. Discharges of untreated or
www.ecostudies.org partially treated sewage continue at
more than 1.1 billion gallons a year.
According to a 1998 Massachusetts
Department of Environmental
Guidelines for Ethical Anglers Protection study, Mass-PIRG contin-
ues, 77% of the state’s river miles,
Seven cardinal points comprise a new code of angling ethics now being 57% of its coastal waters, and 89% of
promoted by BoatU.S. and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Those taking its lakes are often unsafe for swim-
the pledge state that “I’m an Ethical Angler. I: ming. The solution the group advo-
cates: more comprehensive
Avoid spilling and never dump gasoline, oil or other pollutants—on land or in the beachwater-quality testing programs.
water. URL: www.pirg.org/masspirg
Never leave trash behind, including worn line, old hooks and bait, and practice
recycling. Products
Gain knowledge about Aquatic Nuisance Species and how to prevent their spread.
Learn and abide by all fishing regulations and boating laws.
Sailors cruising in warm places such
Educate fellow anglers and especially new participants about fishing ethics.
as the Caribbean and south Florida
Respect private property and the rights of other anglers and outdoor recreationists.
have often encountered sudden
Save fish for tomorrow by practicing conservation and learning proper catch-and-
outbreaks of a neurological illness
release techniques.”

Products
called ciguatera that causes nausea,
vomiting, muscle pain, and assorted
other discomforts. The ailment results
from eating even very fresh fish
afflicted by a microscopic dinoflagel-
late, Gambierdiscus toxicus, that is
eaten by small herbiverous reef fish
and then afflicts carniverous species
higher up the food chain. Now, reports
Sail magazine, a Honolulu-based
company called Oceanit Test Sys-
tems has come up with a simple, user-
friendly “Cigua-Check” test kit that
“could save you some grief.” URL:
www.cigua.com
Severe hurricanes routinely do much
damage simply by blowing away the
roofs of houses and exposing their
interiors to wind and rain. Now,
reports the Miami Herald, comes
evidence that much such damage can
be avoided if builders use ribbed nails
called ring shanks. At an extra cost of
some $15 per house, these nails are
twice as resistant to uplift pressures
as conventional nails. They are widely
available at building-supply stores and
can be applied by a standard nail gun.
Manufacturers of Personal Watercraft
(PWC) have begun to respond to
citizen complaints about these
ubiquitous machines. Installed on
many of this year’s Bombardier
Recreational Products’ Sea-Doo
models is the D-Sea-Bel noise reduc-
tion system that makes them 50%
quieter. Some of the peppier Sea-
Doos, says Soundings, also carry an
RPM limiting device called the Learn-
ing Key that prevents the boat from
speeding past 34 mph and puts it into
“an idle circling mode when the driver
falls off.” URL: www.seadoo.com
Funding
In 1998 New Jersey’s voters resound-
ingly approved a ballot measure
authorizing $98 million a year in
funding to preserve wetlands and
other kinds of environmentally
important open space. So far, a total
of about 125,000 acres have been
acquired under the program, whose
goal is to set aside one million acres.
Recently, reported The Press of
Atlantic City, the effort got a nice
boost from an unexpected source: the
South Jersey Transportation
6
Halibut Farming Next?
This spring, equipped with special government permits, Maine fishermen
carefully captured 31 Atlantic halibut over 36 inches long. This large flatfish, whose
stocks have been reduced because of overfishing, is now subject to harvesting
restrictions. Valued more highly than salmon in the commercial market, the halibut
is a prime candidate for aquaculture. The Maine halibut caught experimentally this
spring were placed in tanks at the University of Maine. Only two had died as of the
end of July. Further testing will establish whether this captive population can be
cultured from egg to market size. If so, though captive populations exist in Canada
and in Europe, it will be a first for the eastern US.
Defining an Eco-Port
At a recent gathering to discuss harbor dredging and related issues,
Janine Bauer, director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign in New York
City, set forth a succinct list of Green Port Objectives. Bauer’s target was the Port of
New York/New Jersey, but the goals apply far more broadly:
v Reduce port-related truck miles traveled.
v Boost the rail and barge share of cargo entering and leaving the port.
v Reduce emissions from on-port vehicles through the use of alternative
fuels and zero emissions vehicles.
v Provide convenient transit for employees to most port work sites.
v Fill no additional wetlands or open waters.
v Use as little land as possible in expansion, instead increase terminal
through-put efficiency.
v Revitalize surrounding “brownfields” for port, freight, and industrial use
and ensure that remaining“greenfields” are not used as the site of port-
related warehouses or highway interchanges.
v Maintain sediment and habitat able to sustain sensitive aquatic life.
v Require the design of port terminals and other structures to be energy
conserving and context sensitive.
v Provide public access to waterfronts.
URL: www.tstc.org
Halifax, Continued from p. 1
Two examples help make the point. For one thing, the 23-member Halifax
Regional Council recently voted by a resounding 17-6 in favor of banning most
commonly used farm and garden chemicals. The move, said to be widely popular
among Haligonians, is scheduled to phase in over a four-year period and be
accompanied by a major municipal campaign to educate citizens about alternative
ways to control weeds and nourish lawns. No US city has any such program.
This summer Colman’s nonprofit research organization, GPI Atlantic,
published a report stating that cleaning up the harbor would net 1.4 billion Cana-
dian dollars for Halifax over a 60-year period. The organization, which incorporates
social and environmental considerations in its analyses of costs and benefits, said
that the gains would come from increased tourism and shellfish harvesting, higher
property values, and lower costs for health care. GPI’s harbor sewage study, part of
a larger report on overall water quality, is one of many factors encouraging the
regional council to embark on a major harbor cleanup project. Though neither Nova
Scotia province nor Ottawa has committed funds, the council has already agreed to
put up two thirds of the $315 million (Canadian) cost of the initiative and, says
Colman, regards this cost as an investment. URL: www.gpiatlantic.org
 7
Authority. It announced the donation
of 467 acres of marshy Great Island,
previously acquired to replace
With Appreciation wetlands lost when an expressway
parking lot was built, as well as 305
We would especially like to recognize the generous support recently acres of pinelands within the perim-
received from the Avenir Foundation. eter of the Atlantic City International
Airport. Conservationists noted that it
Without voluntary contributions of smaller amounts from among our was the biggest donation of land to
readers as well as larger grants, we could not publish this newsletter and make it date from a state agency - and at that,
available free of charge. Our warmest thanks go to these donors of tax-deductible one not usually known for its environ-
contributions from June 29 through July 20, 2000: mental sensitivity. URL:
www.pressplus.com
Walter W. Arensberg Decatur H. and Sally S. Miller
Gayle Bauer Leigh M. Miller In December 1997 Atlantic CoastWatch
James W.B. Benkard James E. Moltz noted the largest oil spill in Rhode
Huntington T. Block Frani Blount Muser Island’s history. It took place after the
Janet T. Bohlen William V.P. Newlin
barge North Cape ran aground off
Isabella G. Breckinridge Robert C. Nicholas III
Nicholas Brown Paul H. Nitze and Elisabeth S. Porter Matunuck in a storm and leaked some
Ella Poe Burling Carol Noyes 828,000 gallons of home heating oil.
David J. Callard Ralph E. Ogden Foundation After a criminal investigation, the
Katherine L.F. Cary Frederick H. Osborn III owner previously paid $9.5 million in
The Casey Family Foundation A. Wright Palmer fines. This year the state announced a
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Hope C.W. Patterson civil settlement with several parties
Lawrence Coolidge Frank Pearl requiring them to implement a
Thomas J. Devine Herschel Post
program to restore the depleted
Helen C. Evarts Frederic C. Rich
Alexander and Patricia Farman-farmaian William D. Rogers lobster population and pay $8 million
Elinor K. Farquhar Roy Rowan to natural resource trustees who will
The Folger Fund Hamilton Robinson Jr. then carry out several wildlife restora-
John and Lynn Foster Dan H. Samuel tion and conservation projects. RI
Florence B. Fowlkes John A. Sargent Governor Lincoln Almond called
J. Winston Fowlkes III Edith N. Schafer the new filing “the final chapter in a
Albert Francke III S. Buford Scott four-year struggle to restore the
Nelse L. Greenway John A.H. Shober
resources damaged during the North
Mrs. Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. Constantine and Anne Sidamon-Eristoff
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Hoyt Ellen B. Staniford Cape oil spill.” URL:
David P. Hunt A. Ann Stone www.riag.state.ri.us
Sarah Barlow Ittmann Donald B. Straus
Elizabeth B. Jewett Kenneth B. Tate Not that long ago, author Sebastian
Peter and Beverly Jost Alexander C. Tomlinson Junger made his living primarily by
Stephen L. Kass Sally Wardwell pruning trees. Now, his pockets
Barron U. Kidd William W. Warner deepened by returns from the print
Joan F. Koven The Whitehead Foundation
and film versions of The Perfect Storm,
Jonathan Ledecky Gertrude DeG Wilmers
Rob and Peggy Leeson Robert G. Wilmers he has established The Perfect
Hunter Lewis Anna O’D Wilson Storm Foundation to benefit the
Peter and Lucy Lowenthal Timothy and Wren Wirth children of people working in the
Caroline Macomber World Wildlife Fund commercial fishing industry. URL:
Peter and Maria Matthiessen Henry S. Ziegler www.perfectstorm.org
David and Cindy McGrath

Job Openings

Boston Harbor, Continued from p. 4 The Island Institute, Rockland,

Maine, seeks a communications-public
relations director and a community
Twice a day this summer—at 10:00 AM and again at 2:00 PM, the ferry to initiatives assistant. E-mail:
George’s Island will have aboard a park ranger to conduct a narrated eco-tour of personnel@islandinstitute.org.
the harbor. Discussion items include the cultural and natural history of the harbor
and the islands, and a description of the cleanup and restoration efforts of recent The New Jersey Conservation
years. Foundation has the following
positions: conservation leadership
Funding for the narrated tours comes from a 13-group public-private coordinator, urban parks coordinator,
partnership whose members include EPA, the National Park Service, and regional land trust representative, and
Boston Harbor Cruises. It’s a simple idea worthy of replication in many other highlands coordinator. E-mail:
ports. URL: www.bostonislands.com jobs@njconservation.org
 Atlantic CoastWatch Non Profit Org.
Sustainable Development Institute US Postage
3121 South St., NW Paid
Washington, D.C. 20007 Permit #1400
Silver Spring, MD
Tel: (202) 338-1017
E-mail: susdev@igc.org
URL: www.susdev.org

The Chesapeake Biological

Laboratory at the University of
Maryland Center for Environmental
Science seeks a fisheries scientist.
URL: http://www.cbl.umces.edu
The School for Field Studies
Center for Marine Resource
Studies, South Caicos, Turks &
Caicos Islands, BWI has two faculty
positions in tropical marine environ-
mental policy and tropical marine
ecology. URL: www.fieldstudies.org
Upcoming Events
September 1. National Fisheries Conservation Center (NFCC) will host a
moderated online discussion on industry restructuring. URL: nfcc-fisheries.org
September 10-15. The Sixth International Conference and Workshop on
Lobster Biology and Management, Key West, FL. URL: www.odu.edu/~biology/
lobsters.
September 17-22. “Coastal Zone Canada 2000: Fourth International
Conference” in St. John, NB. URL www.sybertooth.ca/czczcc2000

The River Network, based in September 19-21. The Fourth Bay of Fundy Science Workshop: Opportuni-
Portland, Oregon seeks a watershed ties and Challenges for Protecting, Restoring and Enhancing Coastal
program manager in Washington, DC . Habitats in the Bay of Fundy” will be held in St. John, NB. URL:
URL: www.rivernetwork.org www.auracom.com/~bofep/workshop.htm

The Natural Resources Defense
Council seeks an associate director
of communications in New York.
Contact Johnston & Co., Fax: (310)
410-3906.
October 1-2. First Annual Southern New England Aquaculture Confer-
ence. Newport, RI. E-mail: rep-naughton@rilin.state.ri.us.
October 1-5. 19th Annual International Submerged Lands Management
Conference,” Newport, RI. URL: www.narrabay.com/CONF/subland.html

American Rivers has a few employ-
ment opportunities: capital campaign
associate, membership development
associate, exhibit coordinator, and
associate director of communications.
URL: http://www.amrivers.org
October 11-13. Nutrient Over-Enrichment in Coastal Waters: Global
Patterns of Cause and Effect. A National Academies Scientific Committee on
Oceanic Research symposium in Washington, DC. E-mail: jbachiim@nas.edu.
October 24-27. The “Fourth Workshop on Salt Marsh Management Re-
search,” Vero Beach, FL. URL: www.ifas.ufl.edu/veroweb