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Coastwatch wants to hear from you on topics relating 

 to the North Carolina coast. Letters should be no longer 

 than 250 words and should contain the author's name, 

 address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for 

 style. Send all correspondence to Coastwatch, UNC Sea 

 Grant, Box 8605, N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 

 27695. Opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily 

 those of UNC Sea Grant employees or staff. 



A Call For Balance 



Dear Editor: 



As a regular reader of Coastwatch, I want to commend 

 you on your excellent coverage of environmental issues 

 facing North Carolina's coastal region. As an economic 

 development advocate for one of North Carolina's coastal 

 counties, I am aware of the vital role that water quality 

 plays in our tourism and fishing industries. Increasingly, 

 however, those traditional industries are not capable of 

 providing adequate employment for the citizens of coastal 

 counties. 



In many coastal counties, unemployment levels are 

 running as much as 50 percent over last year. Our social 

 services populations in Carteret County, including food 

 stamp and AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent 

 Children) recipients, have increased over 40 percent from 

 levels of a year ago. Many rural residents of the coastal 

 area are employed in low-wage, no-benefits jobs with no 

 health coverage other than that which is provided through 

 Medicaid programs. 



It is easy to develop a narrow, single-issue, reactive 

 approach to coastal development. Many of the environ- 

 mental interest organizations highlighted in your Novem- 

 ber/December issue have been extremely effective in 

 curtailing coastal growth, sometimes at the expense of 

 economic opportunities that are available to residents in 

 other areas of the state. 



I hope that in future years environmental interest 

 organizations will expand their focus to help craft strate- 

 gies for addressing infrastructure deficiencies and expand- 

 ing employment opportunities in the coastal region, while 

 maintaining a commitment of environmental protection. 

 Expanding centralized wastewater treatment and extending 

 natural gas are examples of improvements which can 

 benefit the economy and the environment. 



Donald A. Kirkman 



Director, Carteret County Economic 

 Development Council 



Morehead City, NC 



Marinas Environmentally 

 Positive 



Dear Editor, 



Thank you for mentioning both points of view in the 

 article by Carla Burgess, "Strength in Numbers: Pooling 

 Resources to Make an Impact" (November/December 91). 



I was quoted in Ms. Burgess' article as saying that 

 "marinas probably get picked on by environmentalists 

 because they are highly visible and they border on industrial." 



I think what I said was marinas are highly visible 

 because they sit at the water's edge and therefore are more 

 susceptible to scrutiny. 



The photograph on page four of a marina is Minnesott 

 Beach Yacht Basin, which is my family's business. As 

 marina owners, we are extremely concerned that the environ- 

 ment remain pristine so that we, our boaters and the next 

 generation will enjoy the magic of the Neuse River. We 

 enforce a closed-head policy in our facility. We provide 

 dumpsters and solvent-waste/spent-oil disposal free of 

 charge. We also have a pumpout station. 



Marinas provide access to the water for many people 

 and help to protect water quality by enforcing an environ- 

 mentally healthy policy in-house. With this in mind, marinas 

 are one positive way to develop the waterfront. 



I have enclosed my subscription request, as I enjoyed 

 reading Coastwatch. 



Susan Hebert 



Minnesott Yacht Repairs, Arapahoe, NC 



Curious About Photographs 



Dear Editor: 



The cover of the November/December issue of 

 Coastwatch is excellent. It looks similar to our view from 

 Hampstead, and we are curious to know the location. 



May I suggest that you publish the identity of all your 

 pictures and covers? Obviously, some of them are general 

 and represent non-specific scenes, but in the last issue, I 

 think it would be helpful to know the locations on pages 4, 

 8 and 9 as well as the cover. 



Barbara Thorn, Hampstead, NC 



The cover shot in our November/December issue was 

 taken by Beaufort photographer Scott Taylor from the 

 Emerald Isle bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. The 

 photo on page four is of the Minnesott Beach Yacht Basin 

 (see previous letter) and the photo on page nine, also by 

 Scott Taylor, is of Bird Shoal and Beaufort. The location of 

 the photo on page eight is unknown. 



20 MARCH /APRIL 1992 



