We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, 1629 Forest Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 •E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on-line by clicking here.

Living Shorelines Give Us the Best of Both Worlds

Dear Bay Weekly:

While I certainly appreciate the amount of work that the Holland Point community and Woody Young had to put into preserving their eroding shoreline, I think that Bonnie Lefkowitz leaves readers [Between a Rock and a Hard Place: May 31] with the impression that there is an inherent tension between doing the right thing by the Bay and protecting private property.

A number of local communities with several miles of fetch across the Bay, including Bay Ridge, Beverly-Triton Beach and most recently, my community, Franklin Manor, have installed large living shoreline projects in high energy systems. The Bay Ridge and Beverly-Triton Beach projects have been in place and have performed well for years. Our project was just finished this spring, but went underwater three times during the winter and was no worse for the wear.

Hardening our Bay-frontage, our rivers and, in some cases, even our creeks, has severely restricted the amount of inter-tidal habitat available for organisms like horseshoe crabs, terrapins, various fish species and shorebirds. We know enough now and have the engineering capacity to implement solutions that give us the best of both worlds, that when that time comes to remove a failing bulkhead, we should really be looking at dynamic, living solutions, rather than just swapping one form of armoring for another.

There will be a living shoreline discussion at the London Town Community Hall, Sunday, June 13, from 1 to 5pm for those wanting to learn more.

–Erik Michelsen: Chair, Shoreline Protection Committee,
Franklin Manor Citizens’ Association

Make Back Creek a No-Dump Zone

Dear Bay Weekly:

I was born and raised on Back Creek in Solomons. At 48, I am lucky that I still get to boat on Back Creek and that my office view is Back Creek. I love this place, and I consider it my home.

So it is very annoying to me that boaters are still dumping their holding tanks while at anchor.

I love the fact that people anchor on Back Creek; after all, this is great for our local economy.

But you wouldn’t like it if I came to your home and dumped a bucket of sewage out at your feet and ran? That is basically what you are doing here. Please stop it. Many marinas in the area will take your waste.

Last night I formed the Back Creek Poop Patrol, a single-person operation with a fleet of one. I might come rowing to your boat and hand you literature about where you can go to dump your holding tank.

I know that it is not everybody doing this, and I thank and praise the folks that don’t. Please help spread the word. This creek is home to many folks and critters. Please don’t come and dump your holding tanks.