I updated the original post from page 1 to include all the addresses folks have suggested, concise and easy to send, highlighted in Blue....
There are some good examples of letters on various internet sites....feel free to copy this or any letter that you are comfortable with.
Remember if you can take the time to write your own letter, it would be more effective.
*******************
Public comments can also be submitted by e-mail to
1. Project Biologist
Howard.Ruben@usace.army.mil
and
2. Project Manager
Jenifer.E.Thalhauser@usace.army.mil
3. 'Davis, Kelly' (Kelly.Davis@dep.state.nj.us), NJFW?s Environmental Review Biologist
A friend of mine posted this....
[We should also be contacting Frank Pallone and Paul Haertel of JCAA. They have not done much at all for us or striped bass. We should be giving them a full court press asking them why. Tell Pallone you will vote against him if this project goes through. Try not to be nasty, but state your strong disapproval and why. He needs to see this is important to us.
those contacts and e-mails.
4.https://pallone.house.gov/contact-me
full details
http://pallone.house.gov/
Pallone tips - you can only e-mail him by filling out the form. He cleverly refuses to answer e-mail if you are not a constituent. I have found a way around that. Use the following address and zip code if you do not live in the district:]
100 OCEAN AVE N
LONG BRANCH NJ 07740-7128
5. Paul Haertel anglerpmh@aol.com.
http://www.jcaa.org/
JCAA
1201 Rt 37 E Suite 9
Toms River, NJ 08753
732-506-6565
Dear _________________________-
My name is __________________________
I live in/fish in New Jersey
I am familiar with the ACOE beach replenishment projects, and see that at times they have benefits.
The Elberon to Loch Arbor replenishment, as stated below, is what I am contacting you about:
"The proposed Elberon to Loch Arbour project calls for the placement of roughly 4.5 million cubic yards of sand to create a 100-foot-wide beach berm 12 feet above mean low water. The project also calls for the modification of six groins to allow for the movement of sediment and modifications to 16 outfalls to ensure their continued operation after the beach berm is created and to prevent their operation from negatively impacting the newly constructed beach berm."
I am completely against this project for the following, sound, sensible reasons:
1. Natural elevation - The area in question, as is most of Long Branch, is naturally elevated to a higher amount than the rest of the shore areas that sustained damage during the Sandy storm in the fall of 2012.
2. Less Damage - As such, that area did not sustain anything near the damage of the other areas. The elevation is higher above sea level than any oceanside beaches in that whole county.
3. Replenishment not Effective long-term - It is my strong belief that filling in those specific areas is not necessary and will do little to protect against another storm like Sandy. Engineering studies can certainly prove that.
4. Fishing Community Affected - I am a fisherman and fish those areas regularly. The replenishment project, as proposed, will ruin fishing for those of us who fish the beaches there.
5. Economic Impact - As fishermen, we bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into those communities every time we fish there. We stop in the local shops, buy breakfast, supplies, gas, bait, tackle, dinner, and sometimes stay in the area hotels. There are many small businesses that would lose a % of revenue if we stopped fishing there because it was no longer worth coming to.
6. Environmental Impact -
Part of the project language talks about the environmental assessment. I believe this was not given the weight it deserves. Those jetty areas are small vibrant ecosystems unto themselves. There are crabs, mussels, small forage fish, grass shrimp, baby fish, blackfish, seabass, flounder, fluke, striped bass, bluefish, clams, sea horses, and small invertebrate creatures that make a robust link all the way down to the bottom of the food chain.
The creatures that benefit from these jetty areas are many, from the various juvenile species of gamefish that hide there, to the magnificent gamefish that come to feed on the forage, to the thousands of migratory shorebirds that congregate around the jetties to feed on the various types of food.
Covering this over in sand would not only kill all the life on the floor there, that has existed for centuries. It would also turn the areas into a complete dead zone, devoid of life and completely wiping out the vast robust ecosystems that thrive there.
In sum, this replenishment, while it may be your intention for other areas, is not needed in the area in question, will negatively affect the fragile marine environment there, and most certainly cause a negative economic impact to the areas in and around, when fishermen and their families stop coming there.
Please re-consider your support for this specific replenishment.
It has been proven that once this is done, as opposed to the construction of sea walls, that the sand is eventually washed away. The old jetties will come back.
However, it will be years, perhaps a decade, for life to return as it once was, once they are covered over.
Thank you for reading my comments,
Respectfully,
__________________________
.