Text Fwd: Kennebec dredging prompts renewed river classification questions

* Text fwd by Bruce Gagnon on May 7, 2011 with the words that

"Here is a story from our local paper about the conflict over dredging the river at BIW for the Aegis warships. Lots of environmental consequences info that might be useful to you all on Jeju."
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http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/05/06/news/doc4dc414caaa4d7355961617.txt
Kennebec dredging prompts renewed river classification questions
By Seth Koenig, Times Record Staff
Published:
Friday, May 6, 2011 2:09 PM EDT

PHIPPSBURG — Lawmakers, shellfish harvesters, environmentalists, shipbuilders and Navy sailors are among the vast number of stakeholders waiting to see whether a study of the Kennebec River bottom later this month shows sufficient depth for a destroyer to sail away from Bath Iron Works.

Wide-ranging controversy surrounds a proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel this August to make way for the departure of the DDG-111 USS Spruance in early September.

Phippsburg clammers and local environmentalists argue that the summer dumping of dredge spoils in the river will devastate area clam flats, while fishing guides and seasonal business owners expressed concerns that the loud, unsightly process will scare away tourists at a time of year crucial for their businesses.

Bath Iron Works and Navy officials counter that the livelihoods of thousands of shipbuilders depend on their ability to keep the channel deep enough for ship departures and that the impacts of the dredging project on the ecosystem will be less severe than opponents claim.

Debate over whether the summer dredging should be allowed — dredging has long been permitted during winter months, when riparian wildlife and businesses are less active — has given way to a larger battle over the official water quality rating of the Kennebec.

Where the debate goes from here hinges, in part, on the outcome of the Army Corps’ proposed hydrographic survey of the river near Doubling Point around May 20. If the buildup of river-bottom sand recently seen as jeopardizing the warship’s departure has been naturally washed away by swells that come with spring runoff, pressure to dredge will lessen.

“The shoaling — especially at Doubling Point — is somewhat unpredictable,” William Kavanaugh, of the Army Corps of Engineers, told The Times Record. “Our plan is to survey the channel around the middle of May to determine to what extent the runoff has affected the shoaling. There is a possibility that the runoff has completely dispersed the shoaling. However, given what we’ve heard about there being a lesser snowpack on the mountains this year, we have to err on the side of caution and proceed as if there is still shoaling that we have to address.”

SA or SB

Members of the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted this week to table discussion of LD 1398 pending the outcome of the Army Corps’ research.

Included in the language of LD 1398, an omnibus bill proposing a multitude of tweaks to Maine Department of Environmental Protection rules and designations, is what department officials describe as a clarification of the river classification.

Opponents of the move deem it a “reclassification.” The standoff on verbiage is rooted in a disagreement over what state environmental regulators 20 years ago intended when they most recently classified the waters in the area.

Department of Environmental Protection officials say their predecessors intended for the waters of the Kennebec to be Class SB waters, and the language in LD 1398 aims to codify that interpretation.

Representatives of several local groups — including the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and Phippsburg Shellfish Committee — believe the waters in question have always been the more restrictively regulated Class SA waters, in which the discharge of dredging spoils would be illegal.

“Our position is that what we are doing in LD 1398 is a correction,” Patricia Aho, deputy commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, told The Times Record. “We believe that the intent in 1989 and 1990, based on the documentation and testimony we have, was to make the waters in the Popham Beach area SA, and going upriver, SB. And if you look at how the department has been managing the river over the past several years, it’s obvious the department has always considered this area SB.”

Jon Fitzgerald, vice president and general counsel for BIW, agreed, telling The Times Record that the shipyard has done almost annual dredging projects of smaller scales than what’s being proposed at Doubling Point, and state regulators have routinely dealt with the projects as though the waters are Class SB.

Department documents clearly indicate that tidal waters east of longitude 69-degrees-50-minutes-05-seconds west, and west of longitude 69-degrees-47-minutes-00-seconds west — a stretch that spans the ocean face of Popham Beach — are Class SA waters.

The documents do not include latitudinal boundaries for the Class SA patch, however, and if the east-west parameters are extended infinitely in the north-south directions, the encompassed waters would include the Phippsburg side of the Kennebec. Steve Hinchman, an attorney representing the opponents of the August dredging project, said that’s what state officials had in mind when they drafted the documents in 1990.

“(If followed upriver, the SA water boundaries) capture high value clam flats on the western shore of the river, and since that designation was made, those have been cleaned up,” Hinchman said. “Consistent with the SA designation, Phippsburg has gone out and prohibited overboard discharges in these waters. To them, it’s very important. It’s an important piece of maintaining and protecting the natural resource based economy. When you dump in the river, it buries clam flats and lobster traps, and leaves spoils washing up on the shores.”

Bob Cummings, a longtime member of the Phippsburg Shellfish Committee and a former town selectman, recalled the time period in which the water classifications were established by state regulators.

“As a board 20 years ago, selectmen ... strongly urged the upgrading of the river to SA,” Cummings wrote in testimony prepared last month for the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee. “Now we are being told, belatedly, that the reclassification was just a mistake, a mistake so heinous that it doesn’t even warrant having the DEP board follow the state law that requires public hearings in or near the communities affected by water classification changes.”

BIW’s Fitzgerald countered that the eastern longitude provided in the 20-year-old documents intersects with a bar of land reaching into the mouth of the river, creating a natural northern boundary and rendering a state latitudinal boundary unnecessary. In documentation describing water classifications elsewhere in the state, Fitzgerald said, the language clearly refers to “tidal waters of the river” when the intention is to include waters upriver as well.

Such a reference is missing regarding the Kennebec, he said. Seemingly undisputed in the debate over LD 1398 is the fact that the Georgetown side of the river flows with waters classified as SB.

“It would be illogical, if not impossible, to manage a river where one side is SA and one side is SB,” Aho said.

To the river go the spoils

The decision before the legislative committee is whether to endorse the omnibus bill as is, cementing the waters in question as Class SB waters, or to pull that issue from the bill and debate it as part of separate legislation.

Hinchman said that even if the Phippsburg side of the Kennebec is ultimately declared to be SB, opponents of the in-river dredging disposal have a legal argument on their side. He said studies show the water quality on both sides of the river to reach SA standards, begging the question of whether the river waters can legally be considered anything less.

Hinchman added that even in Class SB waters, activity deemed detrimental to the environment is prohibited.

“There are valid arguments you can’t dump in class SB waters, and we’re going to make those arguments,” Hinchman said. “There’s nothing good to be gained by this ‘clarification,’ only harm. The time has come to stop dumping dredge spoils in the middle of the river. It keeps the channel open, but it drives out all the other uses, and that’s not fair.”

Even the question of whether dredging is detrimental to the environment is contested.

The proposed August dredging project involves moving 70,000 cubic yards of sediment from spots near Doubling Point and Popham Beach, and depositing the spoils off the shore of Popham Beach at a location known as Jackknife Ledge, as well as in-river at a site along the so-called Kennebec Narrows.

In speaking with The Times Record, Fitzgerald echoed a statement made by the Army Corps’ Kavanaugh at a Feb. 24 public hearing on the dredging project held in Phippsburg, saying that more than 98 percent of the dredging spoils is made up of sand — not the thicker sediment believed to be most detrimental to maturing shellfish populations.

Dredging, said Fitzgerald, has a similar effect on the river water as a heavy rainstorm, which temporarily kicks up sand, but has little longterm effect.

Stephen Dickson, a geologist with the Maine Department of Conservation, wrote in an email to a colleague that disposing of the dredge spoils in-river would likely be favorable to transporting the material offshore or bringing it upland. He wrote that the river-bottom sands following the water flow naturally replenish the sandy Popham Beach at the mouth of the Kennebec.

“Permanent removal of large volumes of sand from portions of the river near Bath could possibly affect Popham Beach in the future,” Dickson wrote, in part. “Disposal of sand within the Kennebec River is certain to avoid and minimize long-term beach impacts.”

Hinchman acknowledged Dickson’s argument, but argued it’s one thing for the sands to be carried to the beach by natural means, and another for humans to recreate the process unnaturally.

“Their idea is that you need to keep the dredge spoils in the river to replenish the beach,” Hinchman said. “But what dredging does is artificially creates those conditions on clean, non-high weather days. You’re essentially taking the normally clean-water month of August and turning it into a particularly nasty and stormy March, according to the water quality conditions. The problem with dredging is it overloads the system. You’re taking one of the cleanest months of the year from a water quality perspective and making it one of the dirtiest.”

Navy perspective

Cmdr. Tate Westbrook, commanding officer of DDG-111, said even if the Army Corps’ hydrographic survey reports that the sand buildup receded, he hopes the dredging project will continue on as planned.

He said even sailed away as light as possible, the destroyer will need 29 feet of water depth to get out of the river. Without the troublesome shoaling observed recently at Doubling Point, Westbrook said the channel there has an average depth of about 27 feet. The highest of high tides adds between six or seven feet, which allows Navy warships to pass.

“Until I see a dredge in the river at that spot, I will continue to be concerned,” Westbrook said.

When the DDG-111 navigated out to the Atlantic Ocean on a previous occasion for sea trials, Westbrook said ship operators observed a sonar depth between the bottom of the 9,000-ton destroyer and the river floor to be two feet. That’s way too close for comfort, he said.

“I would characterize the Kennebec River transit as one of the most challenging navigation details one would be asked to do in the Navy,” Westbrook told The Times Record. “Compared to other transits going into foreign or domestic ports or Navy ports around the world, the twists and turns make it already one of the most challenging navigation details we might face.

“The concern is that anything shallower than 29 feet, and we’ll touch bottom,” he continued. “Touching bottom is bad. I’m the captain of a $1 billion asset, and I’m in charge of 275 sailors’ lives, and safely getting the ship down the river and protecting the environment is first and foremost in my mind.”

Westbrook described himself as an “environmentalist” and acknowledged that “the last thing I want to do is mess up somebody’s fishery.”

But he said rolling the dice with shallow water — or by navigating the ship in deeper waters to the east of the federally designated channel, but closer to the shore, as some have suggested — risks an even greater environmental disaster than the dredging project is claimed to be.

“The one thing that hasn’t been discussed is a situation where I’m steaming down the river in my ship in a nonstandard, abnormal and high risk (condition), and I’m transiting that much closer to a rock bottom,” Westbrook said. “If, God forbid, I happen to touch bottom not on a soft sandy spot, but a sharp granite spot, and that rips open the hull plating of my ship, it’s no longer just speculation about the environmental impact. Who knows what the public impression would be if 500 gallons, 1,000 gallons or 10,000 gallons of fuel are discharged into the river following a grounding?”

Solutions?

While all eyes will be on the Army Corps’ hydrographic survey later this month, the battle over the designated water classification of the Kennebec River, and whether the disposal of in-river dredge spoils should ever be allowed again, will likely press on regardless of the results.

The urgency with which that battle is waged may be lessened if the Army Corps decides the proposed August dredging is not needed.

Ed Friedman, president of the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay, hopes the question of whether the eastern Kennebec is Class SA or SB can be discussed without the looming deadline of an August dredge.

“We are not here to argue against dredging, but to suggest all parties could have their objectives met through a series of project changes to be made outside of this legislation and without the proposed (classification) downgrade,” he wrote in testimony submitted to the Natural Resources Committee.

Among the variables at play are the levels at which the dredging takes place — could an amount less than 70,000 cubic yards, but enough to get the DDG-111 through, be removed, Friedman pondered recently — and where the spoils are dumped. Hinchman suggested using an approved dredge disposal site off the coast of Portland in the immediate future to avoid any damage to clam flats and lobster traps.

For the Army Corps and BIW, the costs associated with either of the two suggestions are problematic.

Kavanaugh told attendees of the Feb. 24 public hearing that it’s not cost-effective for the Army Corps to move the dredging equipment to Maine for multiple small dredging jobs, compared to one project which will deepen the channel for several years. The last time the Army Corps dredged near Doubling Point was 2003, he said.

Fitzgerald said that to transport dredging spoils to a location off the coast of Portland during the shipyard’s regular, smaller scale dredges would increase the costs of the projects “five- or sixfold.”

“For the Army Corps, they don’t have a lot of money to come dredge, so they want to come up and do five to seven years’ worth of dredging at once,” Hinchman said. “Well, you can’t do that to these people in August. Now is not the time to overdredge. There has to be a solution that allows for the rest of the uses of the river to continue with the least amount of impact.”

skoenig@timesrecord.com




Copyright © 2011 - Times Record

_____________________
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)


Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau

Video Fwd: Hillsboro Beach FL Dredge Damages Coral Reef

* Video Fwd from Bruce Gagnon on April 13, 2011

Hillsboro Beach FL Dredge Damages Coral Reef

[Jeju Update]Pan-Island Committe holds a candle event against the naval base plan 범대위, 해군 기지 계획에 반대, 촛불 행사 개최

* Image source: Jeju Human Rights 제주 평화 인권 센터(클릭)
Event Poster by the
Pan Island Committee for the prevention of the Jeju Military Base [plan]
and for the Realization of the Island of Peace
No Jeju naval base!

* Image source: Han Hyung-Jin, Seogwipo Daily Newspaper, Nov. 19, 2010
한형진. 서귀포 일간 신문. 2010년 11월 19일
No Jeju naval base!

* Image source 이미지소스 : Woo Seung-Ho, Sisa Jeju, Nov. 18, 2010
우승호, 시사 제주, 2010년 11월 18일

The banner reads:
Pan-Island People's candle culture event to denounce the Island governor, Woo Geun-Min
who accepted the Jeju naval base [plan].
7pm, Nov. 18, Thursday, 2010 In front of the Jeju Island Hall

* Image source 이미지소스 : Woo Seung-Ho, Sisa Jeju, Nov. 18, 2010
우승호, 시사 제주, 2010년 11월 18일

* Image source 이미지 소스: Kim Doo-Young, Media Jeju, Nov. 18, 2010
김두영, 미디아 제주 2010년 11월18일

* Image source 이미지 소스: Kim Doo-Young, Media Jeju, Nov. 18, 2010
김두영, 미디아 제주 2010년 11월18일

People completes the shape of the Jeju Island with their peace candles.
The inside letters say, 'Island of peace'

___________________________________________
* 아래는 2010년 11월 18일 있었던 제주군사기지 저지와 평화의섬 실현을 위한 범도민대책위원회 주최 촛불 문화제 관련 미디어 제주 (김두영, 11월 18일)(클릭) 와 시사 제주(우승호, 11월 18일)(클릭)를 참조, 요약 번역한 것입니다.

*The below is a summary translation from the articles of Media Jeju (Kim Doo-Young, Nov. 18) and Sisa Jeju(Woo Seung-Ho, Nov. 18) on the candle culture event hosted by the Pan Island Committee for Prevention of the Military Base and for the Realization of Island of Peace on Nov. 18, 2010
___________________________________________

The Jeju is being hot again on the issues of naval base.

As the Woo Geun Min Jeju Island government announced his official position to accept a military base in the Jeju Island and is driving for the naval base even without proper consultation with the Island assembly, not to mention with the Gangjeong villagers, the fury on his attitude is not only by the Gangjeong villagers, but also by the Island people who have struggled against the naval base plan near 10years.

The Pan-Island Committee for the Prevention of Military Base and for the Realization of Island of Peace (‘Pan-Island Committee’ afterward) held a candle light cultural rally in front of the Jeju Island Hall in the evening of Nov. 18. You can see the images HERE and HERE.

While many religious organizations and civil organizations, including the members of the Pan-Island Committee and some Gangjeong villagers joining, its programs were song concert, movie screening on the stories of people who oppose naval base in the Jeju Island and speeches by the Prof. Yoon Yong-Taek, Chairman of the Pan-Island Committee and Rev. Lee Jung-Hoon, Advisory board member of the Jeju Solidarity for Participatory Self-Government & Environmental Preservation.

Prof. Yoon Yong-Taek questioning, “ How helpful would it be for the Jeju, a treasure Island that has been designated as the world natural heritage and bio-sphere protection area and where the votes for selection as one of the world nature views is being processed to have a naval base? It is surely not,” heightened his voice, saying, “The Jeju naval base has no more justification. The Island Governor should say what is not is not, from his consciousness.”

Rev. Lee emphasized, “ The Jeju should advance toward the Island that aims at the values of life and peace. As the Island people are opposing like this, he should frankly deliver people’s such heart to the central government. It is a matter of keeping the consciousness of the Jeju Island whether there would be a naval base or not.”

He said, “ If a naval base is set up in the Gangjeong village, lots of lives would be killed. Holding the pain of 4. 3, we should be in front to save lives.”

In the movie screened, an old sea-diving woman who worked in the Jeju sea for 50 years said, “ I have lived trusting sea all my life. If a naval base enters, the Beobwhan (* the next village to Gangjeong) sea would reach to its end.

When another Reverend Song saying, “ The history will judge us asking what we did when the Jeju is being trashed in the sewer of history,” warned by saying that “all the government officers and military personnel should remember that.”

The audience with candles answered to the speakers with cheers and sometimes shouted by saying, “We denounce the Woo Island Government.”

.

[Jeju Resource][Translation]: Why the annulment on the cancellation of the absolute preservation area has to be done? [제주] 왜 절대 보전 지역 해제를 취소해야 하는가?

________________________________________________________For the original Korean article including maps/images(click HERE)
* English subtitles were arbitrarilly added to the original images.
* The last 13 images were arbitrarilly added for readers' easier understanding.

아래 영문의 국문 전문 및 원문 동반 지도. 이미지등 은 여기를 클릭
*이미지에 넣은 영문 번역은 자의적임.
* 마지막 13 이미지들은 독자의 이해를 위해 자의적으로 추가.
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The below is a rough translation of the original Korean document informed at the site of the Jeju Human Rights Center. Thanks to Mr. Hong Ki-Ryong, Chairman of the Pan Island Committee for the prevention of the Jeju Military Base [plan] and for the Realization of the Island of Peace, who informed the document. Currently the Gangjeong villagers are preparing for the final review of the 1st court in November and its final decision in December, regarding their lawsuit on the demanding of annulment on the cancellation of the absolute preservation area by the [former] Island authorities. The villagers and Pan Island committee have carried out a 10,000 Pan Island people’s petition movement to save Gangjeong from June 25 to July 25, 2010. The below document has originally been made for that cause. But with the lawsuit that is critically hanging in November, the below document would be some helpful for readers to understand what the lawsuit is about and how the lawsuit is important in the struggle.

More pictures, fixes and compensations would come later.
________________________________________________________

Click the images for larger view
이미지를 확대하시면 크게 보입니다.

The naval base [plan] does never fit to the Gangjeong village where a heaven-blessed ecosystem, a standing scenery in the Jeju, breathes!

The Jeju Island government and Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council should withdraw from the cancellation of
the absolute preservation area, Gangjeong village.

The cancellation of the absolute preservation area, which is legally and procedurally problematic has to be annulled.

• The coastal area of the Gangjeong-dong, City of Seogwipo, has been designated as the absolute preservation area during the process of the enactment on the special law on the development of the Jeju Island in 1991 and its total area size of 1,087,878 square meters was re-designated as the absolute preservation area, last Oct. 2004.

• Of that area, the absolute preservation area in the naval base planned site occupies 105.295 square meters, which is about 300,000 pyeong.

Image: The Present status of the absolute and relative preservation areas
around the Gangjeong village
(source: Document on the Assessment on the Environmental Impact by the naval base [plan])
(* English titles were added to an original image)

• Gangjeong was designated as the absolute preservation area for the reason that a beautiful scenery had to be protected. Nevertheless the [former] Island government and navy, deciding to annul the absolute preservation area by getting the agreement with the [former] Island Provincial Council under the cause of the ‘high-power self-regulation right’ of the [former] Island governor, are driving for the sea reclamation according to it.

• The [former] Jeju Island [government] has submitted its proposal to the [former] Island Provincial Council for agreement on the alteration of the absolute preservation area in the planned naval base area, Gangjeong, and the [former] Island Provincial Council, lead by the members of the Grand National Party [who were the majority then] passed it in a snatched way on Dec. 17, [2009]. Then, [the former] Jeju Island government issued the announcement on the decision of the alteration on the absolute preservation area (The Jeju Special Self-Governing Island Government announcement NO. 2009-157)

• The Jeju Island authority had omitted the process [that was required] in the article of the related act that read that [the Island] should consult the villagers’ opinion during the process of the alteration on the absolute preservation area, reasoning that it did not need to consult the villagers’ opinion in the ‘negligible case’ such as the reduction of the area size. However, it is greatly questionable whether to annul the protection area of 300,000 pyeong (* 105.295 square meters) to fill up the sea of 100,000 pyeong is indeed a negligible case.

• Related to that, the Jeju local lawyer’s council stating its position through its press interview on Nov. 12, last year that, “ Whereas the act on the management on the absolute preservation area of the Jeju Island government reads that [the Island] should name underwater resource, ecology system, and 1st class scenery – as the protected regions of the absolute preservation areas, it is but a question on what legal basis the [Island] is driving for the annulment of the absolute preservation area, while it is not doing the investigation on the matter of whether the planned naval base area belongs to such 1st class area or not,” has raised its question on the legal & procedural injustice of the Island's measure on the annulment of the absolute preservation area, and been still pointing out the legal problems in it.

• The issue on the annulment of the absolute preservation area in the naval base planned site in Gangjeong has been stained with the problems such as the [former] Jeju Island authority’s arbitrary submission of the proposal for the [Island Provincial Council’s] agreement on the alteration (annulment); its exclusion of collection of the villagers’ opinions; and the Island Provincial Council’s passing the bill in a snatched way, ignoring the meeting procedure of the Island Provincial Council.

• Currently, the present status of the issue is that its administrative lawsuit is now being raised and being moored in the Jeju local court since the Gangjeong villagers made a decision to file an administrative lawsuit on it, through their temporary general meeting on last January 13, [2010].


The Gangjeong village is a place of a blessed scenery and ecology system that needs protection.

• The coastal area of the Gangjeong village is the place of the representing scenery in the Jeju and a ecology system site where the precious national creature resources are variously distributed.


※ The present status of the designated protection areas in the Gangjeong village.

Biosphere protection area (UNESCO): designated on Dec. 2002

Cultural treasure protection area (Natural memorial NO. 421, by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea): designated in July 2000

Cultural treasure protection area (Natural memorial NO. 442, by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea): designated in December 2004

Marine ecology system protection area (Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs): designated on Nov. 5, 2002

Jeju Island provincial maritime park (Jeju Island): Designated in Oct. 2006

Absolute preservation coastal area (Jeju Island): Issued in April, 2007

Nature Park (Bomok~ Gangjeong, Ministry of Environment): Oct. 15, 2008


※ The present status of the designated protection area, Gangjeong village


※ The present status of the inhibiting court -protected species, Gangjeong village, Jeju Island

* All the below images comes from the Korean sites by search. Please respect the sources. The source links are clicked.

...............................................................................................................
Soft Coral (연산호):
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Environmental Doorebak (Original source: Ministry of Environment, ROK, 2005)

Dendronephthya suensoni (검붉은수지맨드라미)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK

...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Environmental Doorebak (Original source: Ministry of Environment, ROK, 2005)

Dendronephthya mollis (연수지맨드라미)
_ The 2nd class endangered wild animal/plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Environmental Doorebak (Original source: Ministry of Environment, ROK, 2005)

Dendronephthya putteri (자색수지맨드라미)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/ plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Environmental Doorebak (Original source: Ministry of Environment, ROK, 2005)

Dendronephthya castanea (밤수지맨드라미)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Environmental Doorebak (Original source: Ministry of Environment, ROK, 2005)

Euplexaura crassa (둔한진총산호)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/ plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Environmental Doorebak (Original source: Ministry of Environment, ROK, 2005)

Verrucella stellata (별혹산호)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/ plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
..............................................................................................................

* Image source: Jeju Sori

Tubastraea coccinea (금빛나팔돌산호)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
; and internationally 2nd class endangered
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Scuba Diving school blog

Antipathes japonica (해송)
_The 2nd class endangered wild animal/ plant species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
: Natural treasure NO. 456- Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Life and Peace, Gangjeong blog

Antipathes lata (긴가지해송)
_Natural treasure NO. 457- Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea
; and internationally 2nd class endangered species

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Animal / plant (동.식물)
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: BRIC Bio species

Clithon retropietus V. Martens (기수갈고둥)
_The 2nd class endangered species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Media Jeju

Sesarma intermedium (붉은발말똥게)
_The 2nd class endangered species-Ministry of Environment, ROK
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Newsis

Cladium chinense Nees (층층고랭이)
_A rarity, but non- court-protected
...............................................................................................................

* Image source: Animal photo album

Eriocheir Japonicus (동남참게)_ A rarity, but non- court-protected

Photos Fwd: Connecting the Korean DMZ Ecology Belt Event, Oct. 23, 2010 년 DMZ 생태띠잇기 행사

* Image source: dmzecoline.com DMZ 생태띠잇기 행사

Video Fwd: No Four River Project 4대강 반대 비디오

* Informed at the Pyeongtaek Peace Center, Oct. 19, 2010 평택 평화 센터, 2010년 10월 19일

Production by People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD) 제작: 참여 연대



* For the contents of the struggle against the four river project, click HERE

Event Fwd: Human Chaining the DMZ Ecology Belt, Oct. 23, 2010 DMZ 생태띠 잇기 행사, 2010년 10월 23일

* Image source: DMZ ecoline
Event site home DMZ 생태 띠잇기, 2010년 10월 23일 : Click HERE

Poster Fwd: [Invitation] Connecting the Korean DMZ Ecology Belt, Oct. 23, 2010

* Information sent from Bae Byung-Ho on Oct. 14, 2010

* Click the image for larger view
* 이미지를 클릭하시면 확대됩니다.

[Jeju Update] Jeju Island pursue three small Islands near Gangjeong village to be the world geological parks 제주도, 문섬, 범섬, 섭섬, 세계 지질 공원으로 추진?

According to the Media Jeju article on Oct. 12, the Jeju Island is pursuing the three small Islands of Moonseom, Beomseom and Seobseom near the Gandjeong village to be the world geological park by 2014. How the naval base plan can be parallel to that ecological concern? How contradictory is to claim that the naval base can go along with well with the naval base plan?

미디아 제주, 2010년 10월 12일 기사(클릭)

발제:

'유네스코 세계지질공원을 인증 받은 제주도가 5개 명소에 대한 추가지정 사업을 추진한다.

12일 제주특별자치도는 제주시 우도, 비양도, 선흘 곶자왈과 서귀포시 사람발자국 화석산지, 문[섬].범섬.섶섬 등 일반명소의 세계지질공원 추가지정 사업을 추진한다고 밝혔다.

제주도는 이 명소들에 대한 학술조사를 내년부터 실시해 2014년 세계지질공원으로 지정되도록 사업을 전개할 방침이다.

뿐만 아니라 유네스코 평가단에게 깊은 인상을 남긴 한림공원, 돌문화공원 등과의 연계방안을 함께 강구할 계획이다.'

Text Fwd: Jeju article up in Kyoto Journal biodiversity issue 교토 저널 생물 다양성 이슈에 제주 기사 나옴

* Text thankfully provided by J. D. on Sept. 30, 2010

Click HERE
여기를 클릭하세요.

Video Fwd: WARMING OCEANS BLEACH ASIAN CORAL 온난화로 표백되어가는 아시아 산호들

*Bruce Gagnon blog
Sunday, September 12, 2010
WARMING OCEANS BLEACH ASIAN CORAL



이 비디오는 지구 온난화로 죽어가는 밀레이시아등 동남아 아시아 산호들과 생물들에 대해 말합니다. 군사 기지들이 세워진다면 그 속도는 급증해지고 결국은 인간의 파괴로 올 것입니다.
'Scientists have said that the first seven months of this year brought some of the hottest combined sea and land temperatures on record to parts of Southeast Asia.

The high temperatures have led to some of the worst coral bleaching the region has ever seen.'

Text Fwd:[famoksaiyanfriends] Preserving Regional Reefs: How Will the Buildup Affect Guam's Reefs? 지역 산호초들을 보존하기: 군사 증강은 어떹게 괌의 산호초들에 영향을 미칠 것인가?

* Image and video: same as the below link
___________________________________________________
* Text sent from Martha Duenas on Sept. 14, 2010

KUAM News

Preserving Regional Reefs Topic of Forum

Breanna Lai

Sep 13, 2010 2:00 AM PDT

How will the buildup affect Guam's reefs?

Guam - This year's U.S. Coral Reef Task Force pre-meeting was held this past Friday here on Guam, where they discussed the impact the buildup will have on our reefs. Today another meeting was held in the CNMI and on the 16th there will be a meeting in Pohnpei where they will discuss how to use community management to address impacts to the coral reefs in that area.

Evangeline Lujan is the administrator of the Bureau of Statistics and Plans & Guam Coastal Management Program, and told KUAM News, "I think the Task Force's primary objective is to raise awareness in the community and the nation and the international world about impacts of coral reefs and the importance of coral reefs and how coral reefs are critical to every community."

To better incorporate the community's input into the task force, Stats & Plans and the Guam Coastal Management Program held a photo and essay contest open to all high school students on Guam and in Micronesia. The winners will be highlighted at the meetings.

The bureau also hosted free field trips for the community to see some of the projects related to coral reefs like the Wildlife Refuge and the Cetti Bay Reforestation Region.

But if you missed these field trips and would like to get involved in keeping our reefs clean, the last Saturday of the month is the annual International Coastal Cleanup event. "Our office is the community leader for the International Coastal Cleanup this year," said Lujan.

"It's going to be September 25, the fourth Saturday of September it is the international 25th anniversary on Guam this our 6th year, so we are looking forward to people participating as usual we will have t-shirts available for all our participants so please look out for the sites you can volunteer and pick up trash in our water sheds and our coastal areas."

If you do volunteer and wear your t-shirt in the afternoon, you and the kids can enjoy fisheye park for free for your participation. "I think the biggest thing is everything you do at home if you think about where the trash that you have or if you're going to be using a paper cup versus a Styrofoam cup that everything impacts the reef," she added. "And so our everyday behavior you don't have to go out and do all the clean ups, just around your house just being conscious about where you put your trash, separating your trash, recycling, making sure you don't throw oil down the drain or on the ground, there's many things we do personally at home."

Lujan encourages the people of Guam to enjoy the environment we live in and do your part to keep Guam clean.

Poster Fwd: Connecting the DMZ Belt, 2010 DMZ생태띠잇기

Click the image for larger view 이미지를 클릭하시면 확대됩니다.

	DMZ 생태띠잇기 (10.09.10)요약본.hwp 59K Download

* Sent from Bae Byung-Ho on Sept. 11, 2010
____________________________________________________________

*Related Korean article 국문 기사

생물다양성 중요 알리는 ‘DMZ생태띠잇기’ 생태띠잇기 추진위, [7월] 27일 발대식 개최... 10월 3일 본행사 열려(클릭)

It is expected that about 300,000 would gather for the human chaining of the all the 300km of the borderline to raise the consciousness of the biodiversity in the Korean Demilitarized zone on Oct. 3, 2010. The launch ceremony is on Sept. 14, 2010.

Video Fwd:Two Other Jeju Struggle Videos in 2008

* 아래는 제주 고권일 선생님이 2010 년 9월 1일 보내신 것입니다. 비디오 1개가 내일 더 올 것입니다.
* The below videos were forwarded by Mr. Go Kwon-Il, Gangjeong, Jeju Island on Sept. 1, 2010. One more video will come tomorrow.

제주해군기지반대 수중퍼포먼스_h-scuba.com, 2008 년 10월 16일
Underwater Performance Opposing against the Jeju Naval Base [Plan]
_h-scuba.com, Oct. 16, 2008
(Video URL)



In the beginning, the movie is introduced as below (rough translation) “The organizations joined in the underwater performance under the Gangjeong-dong light house are: Green Korea United, Jeju Solidarity for Participatory Self-Government & Environmental Preservation, Gangjeong-dong Committee against the Jeju Naval Base, Jeju Haema Diving Center and MBC(Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation). “This video contained the aspirations of the divers who oppose against the Jeju naval base construction in the Gangjeong Sea, the cultural properties protection area that is designated by the five laws on protection. The banners the protesters are hanging at the end of the performance say: ‘Natural Memorial NO. 442_Please protect the soft coral in the Gangjeong Sea~!! No naval base construction that destroys the world-class soft coral habitat! and No Naval Base, Protect Coral!' For more on the related contents, see HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE(브루스 개그논 글, 2008년 10월 20일)

*Image source: Click HERE
*Click the image for larger view
______________________________________________________

제주해군기지심층취재_KBS, 2008 년 4월 25일
In-Depth Coverage on the Jeju Naval Base_Korean Broadcasting System
on April 25, 2008 (Video URL)

Event Fwd: A bicycle march for the ecology peace and help of North Korean brothers & Sisters on Sept. 11 [초대] 9월 11일 자전거를 타고 떠나는 생태평화와 북녘 동포돕기 대행진!

___________________________________________________________
Update 엎데이트 on Sept. 15, 2010 2010년 9월 15일
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
[Photo Fwd] [Peace Network]
Bicycle March near to the DMZ – from an aspiration for the Unification of Korea
코리아의 통일을 염원한 DMZ 근처까지 자전거 행진
___________________________________________________________

* Image source 이미지 소스: same from the below link (Peace Network 평화 넷트 워크)
* A bicycle route from the City of Ilsan to Imjingak, City of Paju, near the Korean DMZ.
* Click the map for larger view 지도를 클릭하시면 확대됩니다.
_____________________________________________________________

* Summary translation from the site of the Peace Network.
* 평화 넷트워크에서 퍼왔읍니다. 국문으로 된 자세한 행사 안내는 원 사이트에서 보실 수 있읍니다(클릭).

A bicycle march for the ecology peace and help of North Korean brothers & Sisters will be held on Sept. 11. 2010. It is hosted by the three organizations of the Citizens’ Peace Forum, Peace Network and the Green Bicycle Service Volunteers (* temporary translation). The event is also co-sponsored by the 12 organizations. It is financially sponsored about by 12 institutes including the City of Goyang. The expected participants are about 500. The participants, leaving from the Juje Square of the Ilsan lake park in the city of Goyang at 10am will arrive the Imjingak, City of Paju, the vicinity of the Korean DMZ at 3:30pm.
In the same source, you can see the Korean map of the bicycle march route (also as in the above).
Half of the participants' fees will be contributed for the donation to the North Koreans who are suffering from flood.
_________________________________________________________

* You may read this article as well.

Japan Focus
A New Paradigm for Trust-Building on the Korean Peninsula: Turning Korea’s DMZ into a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Seung-ho Lee
_________________________________________________________

◆ 행사 개요 - 행사명: 2010 자전거 생태평화 대행진
- 주관: 시민평화포럼, 평화네트워크, 녹색자전거봉사단
- 공동주최: 우리민족서로돕기운동, 민주사회를위한변호사모임, 생태지평, YMCA, 녹색연합, 녹색교통, 녹색미래, 경실련 통일협회, 민족화해협력범민족협회, 흥사단민족통일운동본부, 동학민족통일회, 참여연대
- 후원: 고양시, 에버트재단, 한겨레통일문화재단, 시민사회단체 연대회의, 프레시안, 오마이뉴스 - 일시: 2010년 9월 11일 토요일 10:00-15:30
- 장소: 고양시 일산호수공원 주제광장 출발→파주시 임진각 도착(약 35km)
- 행사 참가 인원: 약 500명(입금순으로 마감)
- 참가비: 1인당 1만원. 참가비 중 5천원은 기념품, 간식, 보험료 등으로 사용되고, 5천원은 북한 수재의연금으로 사용됩니다.

Photo Fwd: Environmental activists begin sit-in at Four Rivers sites

Hankyoreh
Environmental activists begin sit-in at Four Rivers sites
:The Lee administration has forged ahead with the project during the rainy season despite widespread opposition and safety concerns
By Kim Ki-seong


　'Two activists of environmental civic organizations occupy a 30-meter-high crane at the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project construction site in South Gyeongsang Province, July 22. The activists staged an occupation to protest the Lee Myung-bak administration’s unpopular Four Major Rivers Restoration Project.' 　

Excerpt

Calling for an end to the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, major leaders from local chapters of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) carried out a surprise occupation Thursday morning of the Ipo Weir site on the Han River and the Haman Weir site on the Nakdong River.

Photo Fwd: Freedom of assembly restored

Hankyoreh
Posted on : Jul.2,2010 13:23 KST

'Members of civic organizations hold a nighttime demonstration to protest the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project at Cheonggye Square in Seoul, July 1.

Just after the lifting of the ban on nighttime outdoor assemblies through a ruling by the Constitutional Court went into effect on July 1, police stations nationwide were flooded with applications for outdoor assemblies after sunset, officials said.'

Text Fwd: DMZ생태띠잇기 소개 기사

* Text seny by Bae Byung-Ho on June 28, 2010

안녕하세요,..

여러 귀하신님들,..

2010년은 유엔이 정한 "생물다양성의 해"입니다,..

이번 월드컵에서 대한민국의 축구는 세계 47위에서 16위까지 올라 갔습니다,..

그러나 대한민국의 환경복지는 세계 94위입니다,..

특히 생태복지는 162위 입니다,..(180개국 중)

이 부끄러운 현실을 월드컵과 같이 16강으로 올리기 위한 노력이 있습니다,..

"DMZ생태띠잇기"는 온 국민들에게 알리고 실천하는 의지입니다,..,..

대한민국의 생태복지를 선진국 수준으로 올립시다,..

"DMZ생태띠잇기"는 8강을 넘어 결승전까지 쉼없이 갑니다,..

DMZ생태띠잇기 추진위원회 모임이 2010년 6월 22일에 유네스코회관에서 있었습니다,..

이 모임을 2군데 언론사에서 기사화 했습니다,..

다음주에 생태띠잇기 추진 실무위원회 구성 모임이,..

7월 1일 14시에 유네스코 회의실에서 있을 예정입니다,..

향후 일정을 잠시 소개해 드리겠습니다,..

6월 29일(화요일)에 13시에 "파주 생태띠잇기단체 구성 회의"가 있으며,..

18시에는 "연천 생태띠잇기단체 구성 회의"가 각각 있습니다,..

그리고 7월 1일(목요일)에는 유네스코 회의실에서 "실무위원회 모임"을 가질 예정입니다,..

7월 10일 경에는 "한국 DMZ 정책포럼 회의"에서 생태띠잇기 회의도 가집니다,..

7월27일 DMZ생태띠잇기 발대식행사를 파주에서 가질 예정입니다,..

발대식에서는

"생물다양성포럼 창립 선포",..

"유엔 생물다양성협약 총회 유치 신청건의",..

"야생동물 이동을 위한 DMZ 일부 철책 철거 제안",..

가질 예정입니다,..

그리고 10월 3일에 DMZ에서 생태띠잇기를 가질 예정입니다,..

월드컵과 같은 열기라면 접경지 300Km를 다 잇는다면 약 30만명이 동참할 수있습니다,..

멋지지 않습니까,..

30만명이 참가하는 DMZ생태띠잇기,..

꼭 귀한님들과 함께 이루고 싶습니다,..

이번 생태띠잇기 모임에는 다양한 단체들이 참가 할 예정입니다,..

많은 분들의 동참을 기원합니다,..

귀한님들의 관심에 다시한번 더 감사드립니다,..

그리고 DMZ 생태띠잇기에 더 많으신 분들이 동참하도록,..

추천을 부탁드리며 발기인으로 참석해 주시면 감사하겠습니다,..

잠시 주말에는 더위를 식히는 작은 장마가 왔다갔습니다,..

더운날씨에 건강유의 하시길 바라며,..

또 연락 올리겠습니다,..

지구살리기22-생태보상운동,..

DMZ 생태띠잇기,..

유엔 생물다양성협약 총회 남북공동 유치,..

배병호 올림,..

정 동호 기자 DMZ 서 3만명 ´인간 띠잇기´ 장관 볼듯 2010-06-25 18:54:43 유네스코 한국위원회 DMZ 생태 띠잇기 추진위 10월 추진 ◇ 유네스크 한국사무소에서 DMZ 생태 띠잇기 추진위원회의 모임이 열리고 있다. ⓒ 정동호 기자 세계에서 유일한 분단의 현장이며 완벽하게 자연이 보전된 생태 보고인 DMZ 일대에서 민통선 지역주민들과 국내외 다양한 세계의 관광객 3만여명이 분단의 아픔을 예술로 승화시키는 손에손잡고 펼치는 인간 띠잇기의 장관을 정부기관 등의 후원으로 볼 수 있을 것 같다. 23일 유네스코 한국위원회 DMZ 생태 띠잇기 추진위원회의 배병호위원은 인간에 의해 멸종된 수많은 생물종들에 반성과 생태평화의 염원을 담은 손에 손을 잡고 DMZ를 가로지르는 인간 띠 잇기행사를 10월 3일 국민과 세계 국민들이 치룰 예정이라고 밝혔다. 앞서 22일 서울 명동 유네스코회관서 지구살리기22(배 병호), 연천지역사랑 실천연대(이석우), 포천(김흥환), 파주 남북경제인연합(김종래), 한국호랑이 보호협(임순남), 한남대학 국방전략연구소(함선필) 등 50여 단체대표들이 DMZ 생태 띠잇기 추진위원회가 구성되었다. ◇ 200만명이 넘는 사람들이 한줄로 늘어서서 발트3국을 독립으로 이끌었다. ⓒ 발트의 길 제공 또, 생태환경운동단체와 평화운동가들이 2010년은 유엔이 정한 "생물다양성의 해"로 10월 일본 나고야의 "제10차 유엔 생물다양성총회"에 11차 총회를 DMZ에서 유치를 위한 "DMZ-CBD위원회를 구성"하여 유치단을 파견하기로 했다. 김동환 3.1정신구국운동본부 공동대표는 “DMZ가 세계적인 생태보고의 관광명소가 되게 하는 것도 소중하고, 갈라선 남북이 잃어버린 역사를 되찾아 한 이불 한 솥밥을 먹던 한 민족의 시대로 돌아가는 평화운동의 불씨가 되어야한다”고 말했다. 당초는 남북공동의 행사로 추진예정이였으나 천안함 사건이 발생해 남측 단독행사로 모임에서 추진위원회가 구성되고 7월 27일 휴전기념일에는 파주시 도라산역에서 발대식 행사가 예정되어있다. copyrightⓒ 2004 by ebnews Co.,Ltd. All right reserved.

DMZ 생태띠잇기 추진위원회 출범

인터뷰365 원문 기사전송 2010-06-23 13:26

[인터뷰365] 생태환경운동단체와 환경운동가들이 오래전부터 유엔 생물다양성총회 유치와 생태계 보호 및 한반도 평화운동으로 추진해온 조직위원회 구성을 위한 첫 공식 모임이 22일 하오 4시 서울 명동에 있는 유네스코회관에서 한국생태환경연구원, 전쟁과 평화연구소, DMZ생태연구소 등 국내 50여개 단체 대표의 참여로 개최됐다. 추진위원회가 공식 출범을 선언한 이날 행사에서 천도교 교령을 역임한 김동환 3.1정신구국운동본부 공동대표는 인사말을 통해 “DMZ가 세계적인 생태보고의 관광명소가 되게 하는 것도 소중하고, 갈라선 남북이 잃어버린 역사를 되찾아 한 이불 한 솥밥을 먹던 한 민족의 시대로 돌아가는 평화운동의 불씨가 되어야한다”는 점을 강조했다. 이어서 김영호 유한대총장을 중심으로 이번 행사의 실무 기획팀을 이끌어 온 배병호 지구살리기22 대표의 행사 추진 배경 및 경과보고, 이승률 옌벤과기대부총장 겸 동북아공동체연구회장의 진행으로 의견수렴과 토론시간이 마련됐다. 행사는 2010년 유엔이 정한 생물다양성의 해에 맞추어 인간에 의해 멸종된 생물종들에 대한 반성과 생태계와 인간의 새로운 관계 정립을 촉구하는 범세계적인 캠페인에 목적을 두고 오는 10월 3일 우리 국민과 우리나라를 방문한 각국 관광객이 참여해 손에 손을 잡고 DMZ를 가로지르는 인간 띠 잇기로 치룰 예정에 있다. 원래의 계획은 남북공동의 민족행사로 추진되었으나 천안함 사건이 발생해 남측 단독행사로 준비하게 되었고 이날 모임에서 추진위원회가 구성된데 이어 7월 27일 휴전기념일에는 파주 도라산역에서 발대 행사가 개최된다. - Copyrights ⓒ 인터뷰365 - [인터뷰365]