[Massplanners] Massachusetts ResilientCoasts Plan - survey comment deadline 11/18, plus office hours

[Heidi Ricci]

Hi MassPlanners

Please spread the word.

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The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management is undertaking a ResilientCoasts initiative<https://www.mass.gov/info-details/resilientcoasts-initiative> that aims to develop a comprehensive, statewide strategy for coastal resilience. To help inform this process, the state is seeking public input about coastal resilience opportunities and challenges across the Commonwealth.

Learn more here:  https://www.mass.gov/info-details/resilientcoasts-initiative

Complete the survey<https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/2289e6c6adb041e1892121655f04c942> by November 18, 2024.  The survey also includes an interactive map where you can place pins and comment on local opportunities or challenges.

CZM is also offering several "office hours" through Dec. 20th to provide opportunities to discuss questions or concerns.

The coastline is divided into 15 districts, each sharing similar characteristics.  Now is your opportunity to provide input into this plan and help identify coastal resilience opportunities and challenges.

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Here are some points I'm emphasizing.

Massachusetts has a 1,500-mile coastline, spanning 78 communities that are home to 4.5 million people.  Our coastal habitats including beaches, salt marshes, bluffs, and rocky shores support an amazing array of wildlife from the Roseate Tern, Saltmarsh Sparrow and Diamondback Terrapin to migrating flocks of Monarch butterflies.  But both the human and natural communities are under increasing threat from sea level rise, intense storms, and erosion.  Protecting and restoring nature along the coast is essential to protect biodiversity, respond to climate change, and ensure that people continue to have access to the beauty and recreational opportunities our coast provides.

The state should work with local communities to:
* Protect undeveloped lands along the coast and provide space for salt marshes and beaches to migrate.
* Restore salt marshes and other coastal wetlands impacted by past human alterations like ditches. Speed up this beneficial work to heal nature by easing the regulatory hurdles.
* Update maps to provide better information on current and future flood risks.
* Align state grants and financial incentives to ensure that public funding for projects like public safety facilities, schools, water and wastewater treatment plants and roads is spent in ways that do not put those investments at high risk.
* For neighborhoods already in danger, provide programs to help communities plan for and fund nature-based adaptation solutions and voluntary relocation.

You may have other points that are important to your community or region.  This is your chance to share your ideas with CZM.

Regards,

Heidi

E. Heidi Ricci (she/her(s))
Director of Policy and Advocacy

Mass Audubon
208 S. Great Road, Lincoln, MA  01773
hricci at massaudubon.org<mailto:hricci at massaudubon.org> | 781-259-2172 or 781-622-8911 (cell)
massaudubon.org<http://www.massaudubon.org/>

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