Connecticut Joins the NERR Family with Rebecca Roth

January 23, 2022

Celebrating 50 years of the NERR System!

On this episode, hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham chat with Rebecca Roth, Executive Director of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA), to talk about the newest member of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System in Connecticut. Now totaling 30 Reserves, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System was established through the Coastal Zone Management Act to network of coastal reserve sites designated to protect and study estuarine systems. The newest reserve in CT protects over 52,000 acres of estuary and surrounding uplands that includes subtidal hard bottom (boulder and gravel) and soft bottom (sand, silt, and clay) habitats at various depths (zero to approximately 50 meters); submerged aquatic vegetation beds and shellfish beds; saltwater and brackish intertidal marshes and flats; beaches and dunes; bluffs; coastal meadows and grasslands; shrublands; and forested-woodland areas. They talk about the new reserve, how it fits into the national system, and what we should be keeping our eyes on from NERRA in 2022. It's a great estuary show, only on ASPN!

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.