Guest Column

Surfrider Foundation, not women's clothing retailer, knows beaches

Recently, you reported the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) and their friends at the Jersey Shore Partnership declared the beaches from Sea Bright to Manasquan among the best replenished beaches in America. As the main group lobbying and enabling the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge and fill our nation's beaches, we find this to be self serving and misleading on the part of the ASBPA. Upon further investigation at the ASBPA's Web site, www.asbpa.org we discovered this list of the six best dredge and fill beaches was "sponsored" or judged by Chico's. For those unfamiliar, Chico's is a women's clothing retailer. We would like to ask what a women's clothing company knows about engineered beaches.

The Surfrider Foundation does know beaches. We publish our annual State of the Beach Report every year since 1999, which can be found at www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach. In 2005, the state of the beach report focuses on beachfill, but it also includes information on eight other beach health indicators like water quality and beach access. Based on the information available, every coastal state in the country is objectively rated on each of these nine indicators pertaining to beach health. The report also evaluates how accessible that information is at the state level. The result is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of America's beaches ever assembled - more than 500 pages every year. There is lots of information. There are no opinions or subjective ratings. There is even an example of a good beach replenishment project in its pages. It's just that we didn't ask a fashion magazine, we looked at the facts.

Many of us in Monmouth County do not need the state of the beach report to tell us there were problems with the replenishment here. No mention was made of the impacts on recreation. Dangerous swimming conditions were created, fishing and surfing resources were lost, beaches were covered in brown sand full of sharp shells and pebbles. In some places these conditions still prevail. Our beaches in Monmouth are not the only ones. Another award-winning beach on the sand lobbyists' list - Rehoboth and Dewey Beach in Delaware - experienced inappropriate fill material on its beaches as well as increased injuries due to steep beaches. A quick search would have turned up two news articles from Delaware papers also found at www.beachfill.org/swimming.html.

Elberon, Deal, Allenhurst and Loch Arbour were not replenished. These towns have not fallen into the Atlantic nor have they experienced an economic downturn brought on by narrow beaches. Property values have not plummeted in these areas and flood insurance is still readily available. Where applicable, beach badge sales are strong. Beach lovers and recreation enthusiasts are patronizing these beaches because they offer more and they are as they have been for years.

As federal dollars dry up, and the state deals with its own fiscal woes, the public needs a real informed discourse about beachfill projects. We don't need self-aggrandizing press conferences telling one side of the story, we need information to help us answer these questions: When are these projects truly necessary? What are the alternatives? What is the best way to make them last? How can the locals have their voices heard and have locally preferred alternatives adopted? What are the long-term environmental effects? What design modifications will minimize impacts on fishing and surfing? If you think objective information will lead us to the right answers, then visit the state of the beach report. We believe after viewing this report you will agree there is more to a beach than its width.

Bob Duerr is co-chair, and John Weber, East Coast regional manager, of the Surfrider Foundation