Winter 2002 Newsletter
Center Hosts Coastal Environmental Forum
Thirteen Groups Gather to Discuss
Priorities and Strategies
In addition to the executive director,
attending the session were Center board
president Jim Henry, and board
members Hal Wright and Charlie Belin,
as well as Center advisor, John Train.
Several of the workshop participants
represented more than one group.
We held the half-day session so that
representatives of environmental
organizations with coastal interests
could exchange ideas about priority
issues and their strategies for
addressing them. Although participating
groups did not reach agreement on
priorities or specific strategies, there
was much valuable dialogue, raising
questions that suggest the need for
future collaboration.
Discussion focused on three broad
ideas:
1.The need to formulate and com-
municate an appropriate and
compelling message for the public
explaining (a) how these issues are
relevant to them and (b) how our
organization(s) can help resolve
them. This entails striking a balance
between taking constructive steps
(or at least actions that are not
perceived as ìobstructionist') with
the continuing need to take legal
action to improve enforcement of
existing environmental laws. It also
means that we need to make greater
effort to explain the relationships
between environmental quality and
broader social objectivesóincluding
long-term economic potentialó
that are impaired by compromised
environmental protection.
2. The need to change the laws, rules,
regulations, and other practices that
favor the status quo. This includes
making better use of scientific infor-
mation, reducing fragmentation of
authority and purview applied in
regulation, and improving accounta-
bility and follow-through in evaluating
the effects of past permit decisions
and actions.
3. The need to replace or otherwise
transform the existing regulatory
culture from one giving priority
to accommodating the users of
natural resources to one focused
on resource protection, where the
public replaces the permit applicant
as 'customer.'
A copy of the forum summary is
available from the Center in either hard
copy or electronic file format. We
encourage you to review it and to make
suggestions for additional sessions
where we can continue the dialogue on
coastal environmental issues and
strategies. Please don't be shy about
sharing your ideas and opinions.
Coastal Environmental Forum Participants:
Altamaha Riverkeeper
Center for a Sustainable Coast
Citizens for Environmental Justice
Coastal Georgia Land Trust
Conservation Research Institute
Defenders of Wild Cumberland
Georgians For Clean Energy, Coastal Office
Georgia Environmental Enforcement Project
Georgia Conservation Voters
Georgia Public Interest Research Group
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
The Nature Conservancy,
Altamaha River Bioreserve
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