P.O. Box 489 Brightwaters, NY 11718-0489
Tel: (631) 583-9266 Fax: (631) 583-9268
E-mail: sosny@aol.com

SAVE FIRE ISLAND

The Fire Island Interim Project (FIIP) is at a critical point. The Project proposes to place protective sand along the beaches of Fire Island. By summer's end, the US Corps of Engineers (USACE) will have completed its long-awaited Environmental Impact Statement. The results of this report will determine the fate of the Project. We are confident that it will show that placing sand along Fire Island beaches poses no danger to the environment.

Concurrent with the release of the EIS, It is crucial that our public officials understand that there is strong support for the FlIP to proceed with all deliberate speed. We must make it clear to them that the Project benefits a broad spectrum of stakeholders without harm to the environment.

Here's what YOU need to do now. You must write voicing your support for the Project to all the elected officials (Federal, State, and Local) who are involved in the decision-making process. Jurisdictional complexities make it necessary for so many letters to be written. Moreover, these letters must be written individually; form letters do not have the same power to persuade as those written personally. And, as the FlIP will be funded on the Federal, State, and Local levels, you must write to all those whose names and addresses appear at the end of this notice. You can, however, write the same letter to all.

Your letters, enclosed in individually addressed, stamped envelopes with your permanent address as your return address, will be collected from you by volunteer "block captains" no later than Aug. 15, 1998 or through your community association. Questions? Contact Jeannie Castells (631) 583-9644 or Les Rosner (51 6) 583 5081,SOS Coordinators for the FlIP Letter-Writing Campaign, or call SOS at (631)5839266 or your community association leaders. The FlIP Letter-Writing Campaign is a joint project of Save Our Seashore and the Fire Island Association working in conjunction with community associations throughout Fire Island.

To help in preparing your letters, we are providing suggested points you may want to make. Please be sure to restate the ideas in your own words. What comes from the heart is the most effective. You need not, of course, include all the points. Make your letter as brief as you choose. Just remember to write! If you don't spend the time now to act in your own self interest, there will be nothing left to do but increase your insurance, re-post your house, and pray!

SUGGESTED IDEAS:

·The road to the FlIP has been a long one. Protection for the barrier islands has been debated without conclusion since 1960. While some people argue that the area is little understood, Fire Island has actually been under study for more than 30 years. The agencies working on this process must now move forward in the spirit of cooperation, so that agreement can finally be reached.

The FlIP is undergoing a review and coordination process in which all affected agencies (Federal and State) meet and reach a mutual agreement. Many of the disagreements between the

Federal agencies (Fish & Wildlife Service and National Park Service/both in the Department of Interior; National Marine Fisheries/Department of Commerce, and USACE) have occurred at locally-based offices. In contrast, at two locations similar the F.l. National Seashore &; Assateague National Seashore, a barrier island off the coast of Maryland, and Sandy Hook National Recreation Area in NJ &; local representatives from these same agencies worked cooperatively to mount beach nourishment projects. Unlike the Fire Island experience, the Department of Interior even proposed the Assateague project which USACE then executed! At the State level, differing mandates between the Department of State and the Department of Environmental Protection are also holding up the Project.

· The barrier island must have protection now. Another damaging major storm will only serve to prove yet again that preventing disasters is more cost effective than reacting to them. You only have to look at the cost of repairing the breach that occurred in 1992 at Little Pikes Inlet in Westhampton, LI. to appreciate the economic soundness of taking proactive measures.

· We seek a plan that protects Fire Island with minimal impact to the environment until the longer term Reformulation Study is completed in 2003. The FlIP need not have a 30-year life span as originally proposed; it could be mounted for a shorter yet still practical period of time. Considering the timing of the Reformulation Study, however, the FlIP must be built right away to provide a reasonable level of protection in the near-term.

·During its lifetime, FlIP should be carefully monitored to ensure protection of the environ ment. I support the FlIP because, as a "soft solution," it is reversible in the event that any negative impact is discovered.

·The seashore is important as an environmental resource, an economic engine, a recre ational paradise, and a place to live. It is important to most of us for many reasons. The needs of all the stakeholders must be balanced.

WRITE TO:

7/98