In response to the comment solicitation period on application # CENAP-OP-R-2018-0587-24, the public and year-round community of Long Beach Island has drafted a letter to express concerns about the project proposed to take place at “the wooden jetty” (TWJ) in September 2018; that of which lies only feet away from the border of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. The interested party includes residents, business owners, and members of the community of which regularly use the area in question for restoration. 

 

As stated in the public notice, there are numerous areas of public interest to be addressed by the interested party concerning the restoration project. Although a multitude of reasons could have been expanded on, we have chosen a select few to bring to light and would like to request a public hearing to discuss these, the reaming issues, and solutions.

 

The area in question, TWJ, is located on the furthest south end point in Holgate, on Long Beach Island (LBI) New Jersey. This jetty is only a few feet wide, and only a few feet from the borderline between the Holgate public area of LBI and the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. By federal designation, the Forsythe Refuge is an official designated Wilderness Area (Wilderness Act of 1964). Given that this is an official designated Wilderness Area, and managed by The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, it is protected from alteration by the highest form of federal protection. With over 95% of LBI currently developed, the designation stands for a reason. Any proposal stating that the construction will not effect, alter, or negatively impact the wildlife is neglecting the wilderness act, which was put in place “In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness”. The public will not stand for the false claim that construction will have no impact on this Wilderness Area and TWJ, the surrounding of which includes both the species Sea beach Amaranth and Piping Plovers. These species are enlisted as threatened and endangered species and therefore protected by the endangered species act (Endangered Species Act of 1973). According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service public documentation on these two species, any construction, whether it be new or temporary, puts each at risk for reaching recovery goals. More so, all other wildlife including micro and macro fauna, shorebirds, sea turtles, vegetation, fish, and marine mammals will be affected by the surrounding construction. Each person below expresses concern for the conservation of a designated Wildness Area, including the endangered and all other species that would reside in or around this area during any construction.

 

The next public concern to be addressed is that of the general environmental concern, water quality, and fish and wildlife values.  As seen with all other restoration projects over the past years on LBI, the project design may look great on paper; but the company acquiring the bid (by practice the lowest) may not bring this dream to fruition. As seen currently in Harvey Cedars and previously in other towns (Ship Bottom, Surf City, Long Beach Township), the company performing restoration currently has seemingly put environmental and safety concerns aside. With close to shore dredging and rapid pace movement, there were numerous days of dead wildlife scattered among the beaches of Ship Bottom and Surf City, with days following of unbearable stench. In Harvey cedars, rusty pipes run along the beach and into the water, without any fencing whatsoever, while the public and children have access to the area. Not only are the pipes blowing rust into the sand, the water reveals a rusty hue all around the area. As water safety levels and environmental concerns are often put aside or overlooked during these processes, any temporary or prolonged construction on a beach habitat is potentially detrimental to the wildlife and public health. As for the proposed structure at TWJ, construction will only stretch this problem closer to a cherished and protected area. By altering the habitat in this area, whether it be temporarily or permanently, it may negatively impact migratory shorebirds, the fish population, and the enthusiasts who come for both. If it negatively affects the fish or bird population, we may lose their close proximity for fisherman, enthusiasts, and for the dolphins and whales that feed here for us to witness and enjoy. Each person below express concern for the well-being of the environment, fish and wildlife, and recreational individuals using the surrounding areas in, around, or after construction.

 

As for recreation, construction at a popular hiking, fishing, surfing, and general beach activity area, including a National Wildlife Refuge (of which people travel the country to see), undoubtedly results in less recreation; not only allowed during construction but afterward during the land recovery period. As is true on a New Jersey shore town, less recreation is equivalent to less tourism, which is not good for local business. Local business is what keeps LBI thriving during the summer season, but more importantly, alive during the off season. Closing access to TWJ and therefore access to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge will limit recreation of all forms, and therefore negatively affect economics and business. Although it is the topic of conversation with this proposal that often brings stagnant political feelings to the table, fishing and recreational surfing in TWJ area are a major part of what created and continue to drive the LBI community, and will be majorly affected by this construction during and after.  For the majority of people, the town will be just a quick vacation. For those of us who bear the year-round life here, the majority still are or once were surfers; and they stay year-round for the fishing, the beach, and the historic surfing found at TWJ. Many local business owners even started here on LBI to stay for the surf at TWJ and the beach. You will find their signatures included below. Without the local businesses, restaurants, surf shops thriving, a majority of which are usually run by surfers or young adults, there may one day be no great town to protect. The people who vacation here pay a lot of money to visit LBI, because of the way it currently is. The people who stay here, do so knowing the beautiful area is theirs to enjoy throughout the offseason without continuous construction and alteration. After recent restoration projects and the burying of past groins, there are not many recreational waves left on the entire 18 mile stretch of LBI. Unfortunately, TWJ is one of the last remaining historic groins, producing the ideal wave that brings tourists to LBI while keeping locals here during the offseason. By altering the structure, there is no guarantee whether it will ever be a popular recreation area for fishers or surfers in the future. By removing one of the remaining popular recreational areas, it may make the offseason even tougher economically. And for local business owners, it is no secret that it can sometimes become impossible to make ends meet with the shortening tourism season each year. Each person below expresses concern for economic security, tourism, business, recreation, and peace for the local community and wildlife throughout the on and off season.

 

Finally, in the concern of aesthetics, it is seemingly unquestionable that the proposed structure would not meet a positive aesthetic for anyone in the community. Given that the jetty is alterable and will be wide enough for construction vehicles, there will be construction vehicles and equipment there for years to come. For example, there is year-round groin construction that takes place throughout Monmouth and Ocean county in Deal. Each person below opposes to the temporary, permanent, or continuous construction altering the aesthetics on an around the beach in the Holgate and Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

 

With many concerns already addressed, it is clear to the public that the problem of long-shore drift and the loss of sand is also to be addressed and a solution proposed. Unfortunately, long-shore drift is not a problem that has an easy solution. In the past we have paid millions of dollars to dump sand on the shoreline, watched it wash past the reserve down to Little Egg Harbor (LEH), and then paid to dredge it from the LEH inlet. The cycles across LBI and in Holgate are continuously closing our beaches, damaging the environment, and costing the public money. In fairness, the current solutions to this problem have been dedicated endeavors and thought out carefully; but they are short term. It is equivalent to using an opioid pain killer to fix a back problem. This does not fix the back problem, but simply masks it for a period of time. By using a jetty or oversized groin to stop long-shore drift, it is obvious from all sides that sand may be starved from the reserve, therefore causing more problems. As for the proposed continuous construction to alter these sand levels, the public expressed serious concern for all reasons above against continuous beach construction at the new proposed structure. With only a few minutes of barrier island education, it will be quickly understood that a barrier island is a naturally occurring and moving ecosystem. In a normal barrier island ecosystem, the bay erodes the marsh on the backside of the island, causing the island to actually “move” closer to the surrounding mainland as well as rise in sea level. Due to the bulk head placed along almost the entire back bay-line in all the surrounding areas, it is tough for LBI to do anything but sink. And this will continue to happen, whether more sand is dumped on the shoreline or not. For now, there are not many proposed solutions without the compilation of ideas at a public hearing. A proposal to restore the original groins throughout the entire island would slow the longshore drift as was once done in the past, but this is not recommended. To stop new construction on the bay and allow the restoration of the natural island habitat would allow the barrier island to move, but at the expense of those who cannot face the change. What the public recommends at this time is to put any alteration on hold until a true solution is created, and to stop continuous alteration of our beaches; especially with a temporary fix. Our beaches should not be at the mercy of experimentation, especially the one that borders our remaining and protected Wilderness Area on LBI.

 

 

The public would like to express these above concerns to put the permit for the construction of the new Wooden Jetty on hold. The public would also like to request a public hearing, to discuss alternative options for true, environmentally sound, permanent solutions.