Carolina Forum: Beach Houses And Shifting Sands: An Interview With Dr. Orrin H. Pilkey; North Carolina Nature Conservancy: Conservation Through Private Action; Congress Revises Coastal Zone Management Act
This edition of Carolina Forum includes the following: BEACH HOUSES AND SHIFTING SANDS: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. ORRIN H. PILKEY: One of the burning issues of coastal planning today is the subject of beach development. On one side are those who feel development is inevitable yet manageable through actions taken to alter the beach and protect the structures: protection of development is paramount. On the other side are those who feel beach preservation is the overriding concern. Their argument centers on the fact that actions taken to save the structures will only result in damage to the shoreline. They advocate beach development that recognizes the inevitable dynamism of the coastal ecosystem and does not interfere with that process. This, however, translates into development that is very different in concept and value from traditional notions of property ownership and enjoyment. In the thick of the controversy is Dr. Orrin H. Pilkey, who has been called "the man who wants to let the lighthouse fall in." His view, simply put, is that the beach is a dynamic system that will run its course regardless of what man does to change it. Whatever intrusion man makes into the system in order to save it is doomed; in the long run he will cause more harm that he tried to prevent. Dr. Pilkey's concern for beach preservation is explained at length in his 1979 book, The Beaches Are Moving, co-authored by Wallace Kaufman. It is the culmination of his many years as a passionate observer of coastal change and as Professor of Marine Geology at Duke University. Dr. Pilkey is also president-elect of the North Carolina Academy of Sciences. NORTH CAROLINA NATURE CONSERVANCY: CONSERVATION THROUGH PRIVATE ACTION: Until about four years ago, few people in North Carolina had ever heard of Carrot Island and Bird Shoal with the exception of Beaufort and Carteret County residents, naturalists, and those connected with the adjacent Duke University Marine Laboratory. Carrot Island and Bird Shoal, located directly across Taylors Creek from Beaufort's historic Front Street, have traditionally served as open space for the area's townspeople. Yet it took the threat of development and the publicity that followed for most people to realize just how special this area really is. CONGRESS REVISES COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT: On October 1, 1980, Congress cleared and sent to the President the final bill HR 6979 containing a package of significant amendments to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. The intended impact of the bill, according to the report of the full Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, was to strengthen the Act; moreover, the bill aimed to signal to the States a continued commitment on the part of Congress to a program of support for states managing the valuable resources of the coastal areas
