THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180477
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The governor has pinpointed four steps to protect the state's coastal regions, and members of an integral state commission were urged Thursday to get behind his plan.
Gov. James B. Hunt has set down four primary goals: improve water quality, protect natural areas and vital habitats, protect and restore marine fisheries, and improve stewardship of coastal resources.
The state Coastal Resources Commission listened to a review of the plan Thursday from officials of the state Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources.
Steve Levitas, the department's deputy secretary, said the proposal is ``a work in progress,'' and would be an outgrowth of previous research on solving problems in the coastal region. To improve water quality, Levitas said, the state should take a less-fragmented approach.
``We're taking a holistic approach to managing water resources,'' he said. ``In other places, we have fragmentation to too great an extent. We need to establish goals to limit pollution.''
Levitas also said the state needs to spend its water-quality money more wisely.
``If we're just sprinkling money over the entire landscape, it's likely that we will not spend the money we have well,'' Levitas said. ``We've got to find a cost-effective way to deal with this problem.''
The second goal, protecting natural areas and vital habitats, requires the state to spend more money buying them, Levitas said.
``When you compare the amount of public funding for acquisition of these lands, Florida has allocated $3 billion over 10 years for the purchase of critical natural areas. We have spent $18 million over the past five years. That's not going to get the job done.''
Levitas also said the state needed a ``more coherent approach'' in land acquisition.
Wetlands, Levitas said, present perhaps the most controversial issue in the environmental arena.
Hunt's plan would establish a Wetlands Mitigation Bank, in which those who damage wetlands would be required to pay into the bank, and the state would handle the restoration effort. ``This would mean a higher quality restoration program,'' Levitas said.
Turning to marine fisheries, Levitas said the Hunt initiative calls for stronger enforcement of laws governing fishery activities and operations.
``We have boats that can't go in the water, and an enforcement staff that has not grown in the past 25 years,'' he said. ``Meanwhile, the demand on our resources has increased astronomically.''
To improve stewardship of resources, the Hunt plan would provide $3 million for assistance to local governments in land-use planning, and a streamlining of the permit process. Also, there would be a greater emphasis on environmental education.
``We need to educate our people, so that we can create a new generation of North Carolinians that understand what it means to live in harmony with nature,'' Levitas said.
Levitas, however, said that with the new makeup of the General Assembly, and the public mood against bigger government, North Carolina must establish clear priorities.
``We've got to keep the right priorities, and keep our funding designed in a way that people can support,'' Levitas said.
CRC Chairman Eugene Tomlinson urged panel members to get behind the Hunt initiative.
``Each person on this commission has a sphere of influence,'' Tomlinson said. ``I exhort each of us not to nitpick this, but to see it as a total item, and write letters of support for this to government officials and new members of the General Assembly. by CNB