Increased sea-level rise — even at levels less than a foot — will reconfigure Gateway National Recreation Area Sandy Hook’s delicate fresh-groundwater system, which sustains one of the last two old-growth American Holly maritime forests in the country, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The study, recently released, modeled different scenarios. Researchers… Read More
LAKE MITCHELL, S.D. (KELO) — Efforts are underway to clean up a once popular lake. For much of the summer Lake Mitchell is closed to swimmers, algae blooms create high levels of toxins. But the city has a plan to clean up the lake and restore it to its former glory days. Lake Mitchell is… Read More
This update on the work at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, which first started shining 145 years ago, was provided by the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists on Aug. 20. ICC-Commonwealth, which handles the restoration and preservation of historic structures, has returned to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse to complete long-awaited work that like so many other things,… Read More
Upon passing the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) last week, the Senate provided significant funding towards development of the nation’s environmental and energy infrastructure. The Infrastructure Act also streamlines environmental review, permitting, and approval of federal infrastructure projects. The Infrastructure Act includes funding for: Reinstatement of the Superfund Tax: The Superfund… Read More
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has designated six new Marine Highway Projects and a new Marine Highway Route as part of the America’s Marine Highway Program. The AMHP encourages the use of U.S, navigable waterways for the movement of freight and people as an alternative to land-based transportation. Since its inception, the… Read More
Brunswick County beach towns are back to square one in a push to ensure potential offshore wind farms are out of the line of sight from shore. “Nothing has changed,” said Village of Bald Head Island Councilor Peter Quinn. “We’re still in the exact same situation. Nothing has been addressed.” The village council first adopted… Read More
SOUTHEASTERN N.C. –– The beach renourishment campaigns of Wrightsville Beach and Pleasure Island, normally routine missions, have faced roadblocks this year. The federal government largely bankrolls the moving of new sand to the populated local barrier islands, a temporary antidote for erosion that rebuilds lost beach. In January, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the… Read More
Some people think “Virginia is for Lovers,” but we anglers know better: Virginia is for fishing. With more than 7,000 miles of shoreline, it’s no surprise that fishing contributes $1.3 billion each year to the state’s economy, courtesy of the over 800,000 anglers that come to visit and bring business to thousands of our local… Read More
After more than a decade of planning, Nelson Dam is about to be removed. Work scheduled for this week includes installing a cofferdam, which is a temporary structure that allows a work area to be dewatered. In addition, this week sections of the riverbed and flood plain are scheduled to be excavated to ensure new… Read More
A vital and vulnerable resource The town of Plymouth is situated above the second largest sole-source aquifer in the Commonwealth: the only source of drinking water for our 63,000 residents, and a key component of the vitality of a unique, biodiverse ecoregion that includes, in Plymouth alone, over 400 ponds and 75 state-listed species. In… Read More
After around two hours of debate, the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors voted not to approve half a million dollars to conduct more dredging on Lake Neshonoc. The resolution would have allocated $500,000 from the county’s general fund to do some additional work on the lake, which is near completion on a much larger,… Read More
On Monday, the Baker-Polito administration announced it will be awarding $4 million in grants to support local planning and management efforts in coastal communities. This will help in preparing for severe weather events and the impacts of climate change, including storm surge, flooding, erosion, and sea level rise. Among the coastal communities, the Coastal Resilience… Read More
(Aug. 19, 2021) Eight feet below the surface of Miacomet Pond, there’s a layer of muck nearly five feet deep, full of nitrogen and phosphorus that’s been entering the pond from septic systems and fertilizer runoff for decades. Those nutrients feed algal blooms in the summer, and nourish invasive plants that choke the shoreline. It’s… Read More
HOLLY BEACH — It’s in some ways like walking into the past. A stroll along the dirt and gravel road between marsh and grass-lined ponds, the sound of the Gulf’s waves in the distance, seagulls overhead, turns back the clock decades, before the land disappeared. “This was all a big, open expanse of water,” Jerry… Read More
In the past I spent many years fighting Washington gridlock to fund projects that would help Louisiana’s vanishing coast. I have served as president of the Morganza Action Coalition, on the board of America’s Wetlands, on the executive committee of Restore or Retreat and almost 10 years on the Governor’s coastal commission. Over the past… Read More