MAKING WAVES, August 2004 issue: Table of Contents

2004 State of the Beach Report By Chelsea Murphy This past July, the Surfrider Foundation released their 2004 State of the Beach report. This unique report, now in its fifth edition, analyzes the status of beach health across the nation based on several indicators, including water quality, coastline erosion and access to beach and surfing areas. The report covers all twenty-two coastal states and territories where the Surfrider Foundation has chapters, and is by far the most comprehensive single collection of coastal zone information in the nation. The report is published in two versions; a printed version, which functions primarily as an executive summary, and the complete web version, which includes over 500 pages of information. The print version of the report includes postcards and stickers like the 2003 report, and also includes a special Beach Ecology poster that illustrates some of the land, sea and air animals that depend on sandy beaches. The online version of the report includes "e-postcards" and a new set of "Perspectives" (articles written by Surfrider staff, chapter activists and other coastal environmentalists), as well as a new "Indicator Issues" section. The report can be thought of as a coastal encyclopedia that provides information on coastal policies, procedures and information sources, including numerous links to coastal agencies (governmental and non-governmental), and scientific reports and web sites. "Each year the report gets bigger and better," says Rick Wilson, co-author of the report. "This year we not only created a new beach indicator, we were able to add New Hampshire to the report. We also created a separate Chapter Victories section, which highlights some of the important environmental victories our volunteer activists around the country have achieved." Continuing a theme that began with the 2003 report, one beach indicator was selected for special emphasis. This year it was Beach Ecology. "Beaches are not just sand. They represent an extremely important ecological niche as habitat, breeding ground and transitional zone between marine and terrestrial animals," explains Wilson. "Another reason that beach ecology is important is that beach fill projects (a potential response to beach erosion) are often implemented without consideration of the ecological effects of dredging of sand from offshore areas and placing the sand on the beach. Unless these steps are carefully done, the project can result in severe damage to offshore and beach habitats," says Chad Nelsen, Surfrider Foundation's Environmental Director and co-author of the report. "Most people simply take for granted that our beaches are healthy. Unfortunately this is not the case. While our waves and beaches may appear to be plentiful, they are constantly at risk of being lost due to the construction of seawalls and other armoring projects, erosion and coastal development. Although our ocean waters may look safe to swim and recreate in, they're not. In 2002, contamination from urban runoff and non-point source pollution contributed to our seeing the second highest number of beach closures and advisories in recent years. The State of the Beach report is one of the few resources available for people to access and learn about critical issues threatening our oceans, waves and beaches." Surfrider Foundation's State of the Beach report can be found online at http://www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach