On October 20, 2005, the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation convened a hearing at the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center at Jones Beach State Park focused on myriad water quality issues affecting New York’s coastlines and oceans. At least a dozen witnesses were invited to testify before the Committee from state and local government agencies, nongovernmental organizations including The Nature Conservancy and Environmental Defense, and the scientific community. MSRC Dean and Director David Conover was invited to discuss the Center’s perspective on the health and future of the New York ocean environment.
Dean Conover began his remarks – developed in consultation with MSRC faculty having expertise in these areas – by putting the hearing’s issues into context: “New York has 1,850 miles of tidal shoreline … (supporting) at least five distinct marine ecosystems including the Long Island Sound, Peconic Bay, the four south shore bays, the Hudson River estuary, and the waters of the continental shelf.” There are numerous challenges in balancing the “tremendous aesthetic and economic value” of these areas, especially combined with the fact that “over 90% of New York’s population lives in the coastal zone … the pressures of population growth are affecting our marine environment in ways that lead to reduced biodiversity, fishery collapses, degraded habitats, poor water quality and numerous conflicts among alternative uses … ”
“Taking its cue from the U.S. Ocean Commission and Pew Commission reports at the national level” Conover continued, “we believe it is time for New York to undertake a similar comprehensive analysis of its marine resources. Rather than react to each proposed development or each environmental crisis as independent events, we urge New York to begin to imagine possible futures … ” To that end, Conover’s testimony highlighted three major areas important to NY’ s future: climate change and what it means for NY, the status of living resources, and marine zoning. (The full text of Conover’s testimony to the Committee can be found by clicking the link below.)
Conover concluded his remarks with seven recommendations for New York to consider in addressing these issue for the future and added, “MSRC stands ready to assist the state in moving forward with plans to protect, conserve and use wisely the many benefits that the oceans bring to our region and the nation.”
