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Bill Shipp
To say Maddox was not excited about the law is an understatement. In his eyes, the act represented just one more attempt by government to interfere with unfettered private development of the Georgia coast. He signed the law under pressure from legislative leaders and UGA’s nationally known ecologists. Thirty-five years have passed since Maddox’s pen-tossing. The Marshland Protection Act has withstood legal tests and become almost sacrosanct. It has served Georgians well as a statute aimed at protecting an important national and state resource. But the times, they are a-changing. Real estate development is exploding along Georgia’s coast. A new generation of wheeler-dealer lobbyists and cavalier politicians has taken control of the state Capitol. Everywhere you look, developers are rolling out plans for gigantic subdivisions and shopping centers. Many of these new gold-seekers view the marshlands as Georgia’s last frontier — a wild and watery space to be filled, developed and overpopulated. Here are a couple of tiny examples of what is beginning to happen: When residents objected to a development planned for the south end of Jekyll Island that would destroy the nesting place for endangered species of terns and plovers, a state-appointed Jekyll official said, “You can see the same birds at the Jacksonville zoo.” Building plans are going forward. When the Natural Resources Department turned down a permit to expand a marina on St. Simons, the politically potent applicant ignored the denial and expanded the marina anyway. DNR officials changed their permitting requirements to allow the new facility — after it had been built. Developers also are taking aim at the 4-H Center on the beachfront at Jekyll. One developer says the center, serving youth from across the state, should never have been built; it occupies valuable beachfront property that could be put to better use as condos, hotels and single-family homes. Environmentalists have repeatedly petitioned Attorney General Thurbert Baker to take up the cudgel on behalf of Georgians to protect the beaches and marshes. Baker has been reluctant to act. Some angry petitioners say Baker is too cozy with big law firms representing the coastal exploiters. “If this is allowed to continue, the Georgia coast will shortly look like Florida’s ‘Redneck Riviera,’” says one knowledgeable conservationist. There is more at stake than becoming tacky. The Georgia coast includes more than 33 percent of all the marshes on the Atlantic Coast. They serve as an irreplaceable nursery for fish, shrimp and crabs. They also provide habitat for rare birds, salt-water terrapins, otter and other animals. To alter those ecosystems would drastically change coastal Georgia. The quality of life that seems so appealing now would begin to slip away. Coastal developers would be wise to take a close look at metro Atlanta for a glimpse at what may be in store for Southeast Georgia — more traffic congestion, overused water resources, increased air pollution and overall loss of the ambience that makes our coast so wonderful. On second thought, some of these developers know what happened in metro Atlanta and how much money they made north of the Fall Line — which may explain why they are taking aim at the coast. Of course, coastal Georgia is not the only area threatened by runaway development. Our mountains face the same brand of ruination. In fact, campaigns against zoning restraints in the hill country have taken on the flavor of religious revivals. Anti-zoning preachers depict some planners as agents of the devil. A personal note: My lifelong ambition has been retirement on the Georgia coast, to look out over the marshes early in the morning and relish in the primeval glory. I probably will never realize that goal — unless wiser, less greedy figures emerge quickly in positions of power in Atlanta and Washington to protect us from ourselves and from development at any cost. Such change seems unlikely in the present materialism-conquersall climate. * High-profile Columbus trial lawyer Jim Butler confirms that he is interested in challenging Georgia senior Sen. Saxby Chambliss, RMoultrie, for re-election in 2008. Butler, a Democrat, says he will make up his mind by April 1, 2007.--You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 440755, Kennesaw, GA 30160, or e-mail: shipp1@bellsouth. net
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