HOPE FOR COASTAL HABITATS PEOPLE, PARTNERSHIPS & PROJECTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Restore America’s Estuaries • WWW.ESTUARIES.ORG | 1 Acknowledgements Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) is indebted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for providing the funding for this publication.

Th e N.C. Coastal Federation, a RAE member group, produced the publication. Frank Tursi was its editor and lead writer and Christine Miller copy edited the stories and supervised the design and printing. Christine also wrote some of the stories. Both are federation staff members. Howard White of the RAE staff also contributed stories. 8 Dot Graphics in Raleigh, N.C., designed the publication. We thank the following people who graciously gave of their time to be interviewed: Clay Bernick, environmental management administrator, Virginia Beach, Va.; Lisa Calvo, watershed coordinator, Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve; Meredith Comi, oyster program director, N.Y./N.J. Baykeeper®; Chris Cryder, director of restoration and stewardship, Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Save the (Long Island) Sound; Laura Rose Day, executive director, Penobscot River Restoration Trust; Christy Everett, Virginia assistant director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Troy Fields, executive director, Mid-Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group; Karen Wilson Forget, executive director, Lynnhaven River Now; Dr. Eugene C. Gasiorkiewicz, professor emeritus of biological sciences, University of Wisconsin-Parkview; Andy Good, vice president of U.S. programs, Atlantic Salmon Federation; Pam Holy, president, Chiwaukee Prairie Preservation Fund; Dr. Hugh Iltis, professor emeritus of botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Curt Johnson, director of programs, Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Save the (Long Island) Sound; Bill Johnston, permit administrator, Virginia Beach, Va.; Sarah King, former project manager of North River Farms, N.C. Coastal Federation; Tommy Leggett, Virginia oyster restoration and fi sheries scientist, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Harry Lester, president, Eastern Virginia Medical School, and co-founder of Lynnhaven River Now; David Lewis, executive director, Save Th e (San Francisco) Bay; Maria Martinez, restoration ecologist, Save Th e (Narragansett) Bay; Serena McClain, associate director, River Restoration Program, American Rivers; Todd Miller, executive director, N.C. Coastal Federation; Doug Myers, director of science, People For Puget Sound; Eric Pake Jr., commercial fi sherman; Steve Richter, director of conservation for southwest Wisconsin, Th e Nature Conservancy; Steve Ritchie, executive project manager, South Bay (San Francisco) Salt Pond Restoration Project, California Coastal Conservancy; and Dr. James Wesson, Oyster Restoration Program, Virginia Marine Fisheries Commission.

Citation: Tursi, F.T, C. Miller, H. White. Hope for Coastal Habitats: People, Partnerships & Projects making a diff erence. 2009. Restore America’s Estuaries. Photo: Sunset on Bogue Sound in North Carolina. Courtesy of Cheryl Burke. Printed on recycled paper. TABLE OF CONTENTS We are, all of us, from the sea. We are continually lured back to its edge to share our kinship with it. Some of us set down stakes. But many come to nourish their youthful PAGE 2 spirit by fi shing, sailing or swimming. We come to relax by a placid marsh or to admire Acknowledgements & Credits the sun rising above the ocean’s horizon. PAGE 3 And yet, no place on earth more directly embodies the challenge of balancing our own lives with the lives of our fellow A Letter from Restore America’s species than these special places where the land meets the sea. Here, at the coastline, the ocean reaches out for the land, Estuaries & Table of Contents with estuaries as its fi ngers and hands. In this unique nexus - characterized by the dynamic mixing of salt and freshwater in tidal cycles - abundant life is created and nurtured. Th ey are renowned for the young fi sh and shellfi sh that they rear. PAGES 4-5 Introduction By 2075, it is est