by Are you bothered when you see a shore where the beach has been replaced
with a bulkhead or stone revetment? Personally, I hate it because I
like to occasionally pull up to a beach for adjustments or a rest--and I
really hate to launch from a bulkhead. On Kent Island on the Eastern
Shore of Chesapeake Bay, I have seen people break masts on the logs that
sometimes are floating next to these bulkheads.
These structures are eliminating the public's access along the shore,
and once that happens, it is much less likely you will ever see a public
ea***t to the shore. They also cause a loss of habitat: As sea level
rises, the existing wetland and sandy beach habitats will all be
underwater, and because of these structures the ecosystems can not
migrate inland.
For largely unrelated reasons, an environmental group is considering a
lawsuit against the Corps of Engineers. To get standing, they will need
members whose fun is impaired by policies that are failing to consider
the fact that when you armor the shore like mad, you lose your estuarine
beaches. If you spend time along Maryland waters, and you feel that
shoreline armoring hurts you physically, economically, aesthitcally--or
it simply impairs your good time, and if you are willing to sign an
affidavit to that effect and join one of the environmental groups in the
lawsuit so that they can get standing, please email me at
additional perspectives.
And if you are not in Maryland but still object to armored shores,
please let me know.
Thanks
Jim