Saving Asbury Park's North End Beach.

Even the choices we make on how we vote about our own town's development will impact the entire globe. If the impacts are global, it only makes sense to me that the solutions are too.

The land preservation, coastal protection and enhancement are a global movements for a lot of reasons. For one, storm protection which means wide, building- free beaches with high dunes increasing the chances of less people being left homeless after super storms like Sandy hit the coast. Second, prevention of natural marine and coastal habitats devastation. Added to this are impacts such as increased erosion due to coastal development, pollution growth, and increased boat traffic - all of which lead to further environmental loss and add on pressure on marine species. As coastlines around the world are regularly turned into new housing, vacation homes, and tourist developments, this biting coastal development is taking a huge toll on marine ecosystems and species. And the truth is we can kick developers out of our own backyards, but still lose a favorite beach we love to a coastal development somewhere else if we don’t ban it everywhere.

I don’t think it’s an imminent sense of doom that unites activists like Joe Worner and Joyce Grant in fight for Bradley Cove's preservation. It’s the vision of what we can have as a substitute of luxury condominiums blocking the ocean view - an open space, a public park at the city’s northeast end.

Although many disagree with the illegal coastal development, most of the public altercation is concentrated on whether or not bringing private developers like iStar Financial to the game is in the best interest of the city. Don’t get me wrong, this is an important debate, but it cannot be the only concern. A much fuller public conversation is needed on how are we going to preserve beaches, which are a public resource held in the public trust, and still sustain town's ongoing evolvement.

Green Acres Funding will only pave the road for potential save of the North End beach in Asbury Park. The policy of Green Acres is to distend New Jersey’s open area resources and increase communal outdoors recreation opportunities, and furnish natural resource preservation. And Asbury Park is on the right track to get the Green Acres funding but it still needs your help.

In this complex and high-stakes context, Machete Media Productions filmed discussions with Joyce Grant and Joe Worner on environmental concerns and how developing of this section of the beach will cause ecological loss in the region. We are joining their call for action here as well! It is as simple as sending email to the Monmounth County Freeholders. Please see instructions here: http://saveasburypark.surfrider.org/?p=1294

We must put all of the elbow grease in defending our beaches which provide affordable, recreational ingress available to everyone and the future of our communities. We can start here and hope others will follow to save many endangered beaches all around the world.

To learn more about how you can help and what can be done to fight coastal development which poses a threat to our naturally dynamic shoreline please visit Save The North Beach fan page at: https://www.facebook.com/saveasburypark and their website at http://saveasburypark.surfrider.org/?p=1294.

This and many more interviews regarding environmental and historical preservation in Asbury Park will be featured in "Asburied In Time" documentary. Thank you.

PR Manager