Advocacy

The bottlenose dolphins of the St. Johns River have a favored spot where they like to hang out, frolic, eat and socialize. It’s near the BEA Systems dry dock, east of Blount Island and just west of where the Intracoastal Waterway comes up from the south and meets the St. Johns.

Warrnambool, Victoria -- A dedicated group of south-west volunteers have been rewarded with a state government grant to continue their environmental work cleaning up the region's beaches.

Smokers probably do not intentionally set out to poison the local marine environment.

Rising sea levels could be an opportunity for social change—or a dystopian hellscape.

For the third time in five years, a sea turtle nesting record at Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been broken.

Poor weather conditions have forced a whale rescue team to postpone its bid to disentangle a North Atlantic right whale from fishing gear that is trailing from its head.

A landmark 30-year study of ailing coral in the Florida Keys shows nutrient-supercharged water from as far north as Orlando is contributing to the death of an ancient ecosystem that evolved to thrive in a fertilizer-free environment.

PORTAGE — State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, will try again next year to insert specific protections in Indiana law for everything Hoosiers have enjoyed doing at their Lake Michigan beaches for more than a century.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. —The challenge to private beach owners wanting to stop public access to their land is far from over, says Scott Keeley, who organized a protest drawing more than 200 supporters to step over the Charlestown-South Kingstown line into the sand of exclusive beaches.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Exactly defining public access along beaches — and other areas around Rhode Island’s coast — is a complex undertaking requiring some serious study, said Virginia Lee, who has studied the issue and is an author of guides to public access to shorefront areas.

WALTON COUNTY — The latest twist in Walton County’s tumultuous customary use battle has some beach property owners threatening to seek legal sanctions against the county’s attorneys for attempting to claim, as public, land that in years past had been specifically declared to be private.

On July 1, one year after a state law negated Walton County’s customary use beach ordinance, residents and visitors gathered on local beaches to join hands in support of customary use.

Shore season is in full swing. With the arrival of summer, many Philadelphians leave the city and spend their time in towns up and down the South Jersey coast.

Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Portsmouth, Tiverton) and Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton) have called upon the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to remove a barrier that has been erected on Nanaquaket Road in Tiverton that blocks access to an inlet of Narragansett Bay.

Federal officials want to dump nearly 1.5 tons of poison in the South Farallon Islands to eliminate a centuries-old rodent invasion.

Central Coastal Californians raise concerns about the impact the Oceano Dunes on the community and environment. California Coastal Commission staff considers park closure.

Economic leaders at this year’s G20 Summit must support investment in using nature to tackle issues such as climate change, say conservation finance experts Margaret Kuhlow and Andrew Deutz.

Significant storm events are corroding the democracy of island nations, leading to a newly discovered phenomena labelled ‘storm autocracies’, according to new research from Deakin University.

Do you agree with a ban on the intentional release of multiple balloons at weddings, graduations and other events?

Coastal Commission weighs in on recent dust-up on sand with directive to remove obstructions or face fines of up to $30,000 a day

State Agency Threatens to Fine Resort Up to $30,000 a Day

Council vote defeats controversial Edmonds Street Waterfront Connector that would have increased public access and use on a quiet city beach, killing the $27.5 million project

In North Carolina, the beach to the dune line is considered public property and anyone can use it. Access, however, is not a public right. That roads in the Sand Dollar Shores HOA such as Sea Breeze or Plover are public and maintained by the state is not at issue. Hovey’s contention is that in 1983, when the developers granted the easement for the roads to the state, that easement went to the beach. It did not end at a cul-de-sac or at an oceanfront property.

KITTERY, Maine -- A “town planner” of a coastal community, a “scientist” and a summer “homeowner” whose house is two blocks back from the ocean face an audience. The topic is sea level rise and each one of them has a lot to say.

When Charlestown, Rhode Island, resident Scott Keeley went to the beach on a sunny Sunday, he thought he had state law on his side: the Rhode Island Constitution says he’s allowed to collect seaweed along the shore, and, he believes, nothing in there prevents him from sitting down to shake out the sand from his haul.

There's a 2-mile rock wall off the coast of Long Beach that's been one of the most important — and controversial — pieces of infrastructure in Southern California for the past 70 years.

When anticipated fireworks over a beach access issue failed to materialize during the June 5 Duck Town Council meeting, the only storm in Duck last Wednesday night was from falling rain outside.

Coastal Commission says luxury hotel violated coastal laws for years

Collier County commissioners want to draw a line in the sand. Not a figurative line in the sand with the school board over money for school deputies or with the PACE providers over home improvement loans.

SCOTTISH environmental groups are today urging the Scottish Government to bring forward tougher new laws including a polycarbonate ban to tackle waste and pollution from plastics.

Unrelenting pressures and mounting uses in Rhode Island alone highlight stress humans are inflicting upon the marine environment

North Carolina - The town of Duck is caught in the middle of a social media uproar after the arrest of a local business owner seeking to put a spotlight on the lack of public beach access.

Screeching car alarms before sunrise. Snarled traffic on Laurens and Concord streets. Blaring Caribbean music piercing Charleston’s quiet.

Local residents and Miramar Resort have engaged in productive conversations after a video showed resort staff kicking local families off the beach.

Florida is well-known for its year-round warm climate and beautiful, sandy beaches. While beach tourism drives the state’s economy, people who visit and live in the Sunshine State are losing the long-standing recreational opportunities that they cherish.

DUCK — If there is one philosophy uniting the long string of communities along the Outer Banks, it is that their beaches should be open and free. And accessible.

Two catastrophic hurricanes hit North Carolina between 2016 and 2018. These storms and the devastation they caused prompted Governor Cooper to initiate a comprehensive assessment of the state’s vulnerability to climate change and the increasing frequency and magnitude of disasters that are resulting.

Management Told Families Celebrating Graduation That Kids Were a Noisy Nuisance

If one word could ever have characterized the red abalone population of northern California, it might have been abundance. The coveted sea snails were so numerous in places that divers often found them stacked on top of each other two and three deep, their fat muscular feet — the prized edible part — spilling out from under their shells as they foraged for food. The animals eat algae, and for all of California’s modern history, they thrived in the lush coastal kelp forests of Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties.

It’s not with any pleasure that I sit down and write an outdoors column on water quality issues and red tide at one of my favorite times of the year. I’d rather be spending this time talking about tarpon, snook, redfish, trout and the plethora of other fish that swim area waters. Unfortunately, there’s an elephant in the bay.

Canadian public shows clear support for recent policy actions to improve standards for marine protected areas

A town on North Carolina's Outer Banks is warning beachgoers that trying to walk to its public beaches could get you arrested for trespassing.

GALVESTON — City officials are pushing for clear signage indicating public access to some beaches in Galveston despite resident complaints about unmanageable crowds of tourists.

CNT continues to follow this story out of NC. Will the City act to improve the public's access? Will Surfrider step into the battle? We will be watching how this situation plays out.

When Bob Hovey's confrontation with foul-mouthed homeowners went viral, Duck’s whole public image was put under scrutiny.

This article was updated on Wednesday, May 28 to include new statements from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Prince Edward County, Ontario - Following the successful defence of the south shore of Prince Edward County from the impacts of industrial wind turbines, several organizations have been collaborating to secure and protect some of the last undeveloped natural areas along Lake Ontario’s northern shoreline.

Storms supercharged by climate change pose a dire threat to river towns. After two catastrophic floods, tiny Ellicott City faces a critical decision: Rebuild, or retreat?

SARASOTA — Sarasota County’s challenge to the constitutionality of two amendments to the county charter survived the first skirmish in the ongoing litigation.

CNT Editor's Note: On the Memorial Day Summer Kick Off Podcast, Part II, we interviewed Andra Belknap from Ventura County, California. We discussed the famous Ventura oil spill from the late 1960's and referred to it as the Amaco Cadiz. That was wrong. The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France, on 16 March 1978, and ultimately split in three and sank, all together resulting in the largest oil spill of its kind in history to that date. This story is about the actual late 1960's spill Andra was referring to.

People nowadays are inventing creative ways on how to participate in the fight against climate change. Some are using a fishing net to pick up plastic waste in the ocean, while others incorporate fun in social media to raise awareness in the growing concern over our environment.

If some of Lompoc’s leaders get their way, the annual closures at the city’s closest publicly accessible beach may become a thing of the past.

Every person reading this has used a plastic bottle, many of whom likely used one in the past day or week. Plastic, in the recent decades, has become a staple of convenience and a modern lifestyle. The surge in plastic bottle use has accompanied a desire for bottled water as Asia has modernized its lifestyle.

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. - A woman sunbathing on a Fernandina beach was run over Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) - A city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is moving ahead with plans to build a new sidewalk by a beach, after homeowners lost a legal battle to block the project.

The California Coastal Commission and the City of Malibu have finally come to an agreement after seven years of back and forth.

Even though the county stands to make money in a project that also adds needed beach parking, there is still some collateral push-back.

SANTA ROSA BEACH — The Walton County Commission and its Tourist Development Council continue their aggressive push to provide access to public beaches.

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. (WNCT) - The town of Atlantic Beach has lowered the number of time visitors can park at designated zones.

KENNEBUNKPORT -- Nearly a decade after beachfront property owners filed a lawsuit against the town over their property rights at Goose Rocks Beach, the state’s highest court heard an appeal disputing a lower court ruling issued last year granting title rights to the town of Kennebunkport.

A ten-year-long fight over access to Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport returns to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Wednesday.

Britain has relied on burning coal for power since the Industrial Revolution, which began in the UK in the 18th Century and spread to other parts of the world.

A Canadian military Griffon helicopter flies along the shoreline of Baffin Island on Tuesday August 26, 2014. An Inuit land claim group is asking the federal government to permanently rope off large sections of the eastern Arctic to any future industrial development.

It's not your usual neighbourhood fence dispute.

An estimated two-thirds of the Earth's longest rivers have been corrupted by dams, reservoirs or other manmade structures, seriously harming some of the most important ecosystems on the planet, researchers said Wednesday.

Extraction in rivers and beaches has increased pollution and flooding, lowered groundwater levels, hurt marine life, and exacerbated the occurrence and severity of landslides and drought, UN says.

The Peconic Estuary Program, one of 28 national estuary programs mandated by the 1972 Clean Water Act, will be seeking local input this summer on community areas that residents would like to see restored.

BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. — New Jersey’s governor signed a law Friday intended to protect the public’s right to reach the beach in a state where some shore towns have employed a wide variety of tactics to discourage outsiders from sitting on or even walking across their sand.

It's been dubbed "the people's beach". But it's perhaps people that Awaroa could use fewer of, says an ecologist who has been visiting the stunning Tasman Bay spot each year for three decades.

Gasparilla Island, Florida - Last week the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville announced that some Gasparilla Island beaches in Lee County would be renourished this summer, which initially sounds like a great idea. Beaches in the Historic District have lost a great deal of sand in the last few years, leaving a big dropdown from the sea wall.

AOMORI - Japanese whaling vessels launched on Saturday the last round of what Japan calls scientific research off the Pacific coast ahead of the country's pullout from the International Whaling Commission next month for commercial hunting.

Walton County has been given until May 6 to verify that it has notified all beach property owners of its intention to seek a declaration of customary use.

MADEIRA BEACH, FLORIDA — Members of the Barrier Islands Governmental Council got a lesson in how fragile Florida’s waters are and how problems can be dealt with.

Washington, D.C. May 1, 2019 — In response to today’s U.S. House Natural Resources Committee vote passing the bipartisan Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act out of committee (the bill passed 22-14), Alaska Wilderness League, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment America, Trustees for Alaska, Earthjustice, National Audubon Society, Center for Biological Diversity and Northern Alaska Environmental Center issue the following joint statement:

Spring is here. For millions of folks in the Garden State that’s their cue to fast forward to plans for boating, beaches, fishing and waterfront strolls.

Apple announced this week that it has partnered with Conservation International to protect and restore a 27,000-acre mangrove forest in Cispatá Bay, Colombia, which is expected to sequester 1 million metric tons of CO2 over its lifetime.

A ban in Florida on the words “climate change” appears to be ending. The DeSantis administration is showing new leadership where state government has been absent in the past.

If you’ve been vacationing this week on the Florida Panhandle beaches of Walton County, which includes the popular stretch of Highway 30A, you may have had some difficulty renting an umbrella and chairs, or, worse, been shooed off the sand for setting up your towel too close to someone’s beachfront home.

The Maya Bay beach, which has been closed to the public since last year to allow coral restoration and beach recovery, would remain closed to visitors indefinitely, the head of Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, Woraphot Lomlim, said.

A compelling and varied bevy of recognized environmental and policy leaders will lead the conversation about sustainability at EarthxBanquets, a series of intimate evenings the week of EarthX. Beginning April 25 and running through April 27, banquets each night will help extend the EarthX experience offered at EarthxExpo and the nine conferences affiliated with EarthxConference. Banquets include a reception and dinner with tickets and tables available at www.earthx.org/banquet.

International environmental non-profit, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), has set a new ambition to unlock up to $1.6bn in the restoration and conservation of marine environments, through a $40m (£30m) "Blue Bonds for Ocean Conservation".

Environmental remediation represents a promising solution to many of today’s most pressing concerns. With the perils of human encroachment, remediation services help to offset the damage, preserving natural habitats and restoring balance to sensitive ecosystems. Through these efforts, progress is possible.

Chinese developers have mega-resort permit pulled after lengthy court battle

Danny Faure gives speech from submersible 120 metres below surface of Indian Ocean

'It means a lot of my friends are now going to be able to access our downtown lake, dip their toes in the water and enjoy the lake like everybody else' Linda Thomas-Ouellette

It is telling that the two sides in Walton County’s bitter battle over its beaches don’t even agree about what it was last year that blew apart decades of harmonious relations along one of Florida’s most beautiful coastlines.

The state Legislature has overwhelmingly approved a bill making clear the public’s right to get to and enjoy beaches and riverfronts.

The Surfrider Foundation has been one of the leading nonprofits on the frontlines of lobbying for our oceans and their recent "United States and Oceans of America" campaign generated a huge amount of buzz and awareness.

Nordic governments have become the first in the world to formally call for a global treaty to tackle ocean plastic.

FLORIDA - It’s time for Destin and Okaloosa County to act on Holiday Isle beach access.

As the county grows and the “T-word” (taxes) continues to be a political poison pill to most state and local elected officials, residents are increasingly caught in the intersection of a coming “decision collision.”

ALIOMANU, HI — The pending sale of a piece of property in Aliomanu is triggering the closure of a streamside path that people have been using to access the beach for years.

In the latest chapter of a 40-year battle over who gets access to the California coast, the tides could be turning in favor of the public; but not without a fight from private landowners. The state has taken major new steps to establish access and to broaden public input in their decision making.

This gorgeous series by Márton Mogyorósy explores the coastal city of Barcelona from above, exploring the geometric patterns found in the Spanish city’s buildings, shore, and sea.

Spring is in the air. The days are getting longer, the sun is shining and the crocuses are blooming. You know what that means? Yup. It means more battles over beach access. These battles have been going on at the Jersey Shore for as long as I can remember. The battle lines are quite different than what many people believe.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Conservation and Coastal Lands division surveyed a stretch of beach fronting homes in the Portlock area earlier this week, and will be notifying about 10 property owners of their need to have vegetation trimmed or cut back.

There are three proposals before Beacon Hill lawmakers that could help pay for how we cope with the impacts of climate change — all should be considered.

Efforts to dismiss judge rejected, appellate court denies request to delay trial

MARGATE — Sally Carter’s father still goes to the beach, but at 81 years old, it’s a struggle. Ahead of his visit, he calls the lifeguard station and asks for assistance getting over the dunes and onto the sand, Carter said. “It’s very limiting,” the lifelong Margate resident said while walking her dog on the beach Tuesday morning.