|
|
Environmental Protection and Watermen Communities: Assessing the Effects of New Initiatives on Old Ways of Life
Just as population growth and development have been impacting the Chesapeake Bay, so have they been impacting traditional coastal communities. While these impacts can be thought of in economic terms, more deeply rooted shifts in priorities are occurring; these can be articulated as differences between those who derive their livelihood from the natural resources of the Bay, and those who live on or near the shoreline but earn their livelihood elsewhere. Mark Sagoff and David Wasserman have studied these differences in communities on the western shore of the Bay and have been characterizing the sense of place that different constituencies have. They have learned that the daily working contact watermen have with their environment gives them a rich appreciation of the Bay. Recent migrants, on the other hand, while they appreciate the rural character and naturalness of the region–and are committed to preserving it for more aesthetic reasons–have far less a connection in their daily lives to what actually makes the region unique.
Recognizing and understanding social differences is of great importance to policymakers. Recently legislators have begun to formulate new policies designed to preserve environments and resources for moral, aesthetic and cultural reasons rather than simply to manage them for the production of their economically viable resources. These policies have distinct implications for watermen and their communities on the Bay, which this study will begin to characterize. The findings could have far reaching implications for all citizens in the region as we change the landscape in the coming century.
|
Mark Sagoff and David Wasserman
School of Public Affairs
University of Maryland College Park
|
|
|
|
