"Mom, I think the most important thing you can do is try to save Assateague." Those words from nine-year-old son Reid set Judy Colt Johnson on a remarkable conservation course that included the rescue of Assateague Island from plans that would have doomed it to commercialism. It was on a visit to Chincoteague NWR in 1969 that Johnson and her son discovered the finer print in the 1965 law establishing the Assateague National Seashore: orders for a public road to be built from one end of the island to the other, as well as space set aside for motels, restaurants, and other visitor accommodations. Development proponents seemed oblivious to what storms could do to the unstable island. Storm damage, in fact, is what forced the scuttling of impending private development on the island and triggered the seashore legislation.
What would be left for future generations, thought a bothered Johnson, if nothing were done. Her son's words were the inspiration she needed, although she knew nothing at the time about citizen activism or the wheels of government. Knowing the values of organization, Johnson chose first to enlist a "handful of neophytes," as she called them, into a group they called the Committee to Preserve Assateague with Johnson as president. Over the more than twenty-five years that she served as president, the committee's membership reached out to nearly every state and grew to more than 1,300. Johnson learned all that was known about barrier-island dynamics, sharing her expertise at countless meetings and earning the utmost respect of leading officials at both state and federal levels.
Her first quest was the repeal of the development provisions of the seashore act. She began by contacting an array of legislators and departmental officials, soon to learn that it was important for the state of Maryland to be on record against the island's commercial development. Johnson and her small band of warriors, armed with fact sheets and riding on the crest of an onslaught of letters to the editors, visited the most influential members of the state general assembly. Despite efforts by opponents, the unrelenting Johnson garnered support for the appropriate bills, tracked their progress, instigated a governor-appointed committee to recommend approval, and then celebrated the passage of the sought-for resolution.
But, Congress had to be persuaded. Employing her vast network of contacts, Johnson arranged a meeting to seek sanction for the repeal from Virginia's Eastern Shore representative, a lawmaker who had introduced the original legislation. To Johnson's surprise and delight, he was not only supportive but also wanted to introduce the repeal legislation. With the legislation passed in the Senate, success seemed at hand, except for one additional problem: Maryland's Eastern Shore representative was blocking the vote in the House and Congress was nearing adjournment. In a last-ditch attempt, Johnson called on the office of former Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson (WA) who badly wanted the omnibus parks bill containing the repeal passed. Advised of the holdup, Jackson sent a hand-delivered note to the congressman, threatening to publicly cite him for obstructing necessary environmental legislation. He capitulated at the last minute, but with communications what they were then, Judy Johnson did not know that until the wee hours of the morning, when she found a newspaper reporter who knew who to call to learn of the after-midnight legislation that saved Assateague from exploitation.
The Committee to Preserve Assateague is now the Assateague Coastal Trust. Judy Johnson laments that there will never be an end to the threats to the health of Assateague Island and its bays and wetlands; therefore, there will be no end to the work of the Trust. For more information, contact Assateague Coastal Trust, P.O. Box 731, Berlin, MD 21811, 410-629-4538.
Volunteers
As many as 300 volunteer workers helped with tree planting. Annual beach cleanups can rally over 150 volunteers who collect as much as five tons of trash. Up to thirty volunteers are regular refuge workers who donate their time on a weekly basis to visitor services and wildlife surveys. The staffing of the visitor contact station and leading interpretive walks are two other mainstay volunteer activities. Further expansion of the refuge volunteer corps is now the mission of the new Chincoteague Refuge Volunteer organization formed in 1997 at the instigation of several ardent refuge supporters.
Refuge volunteers are also members of the Chincoteague Natural History Association, the citizen refuge support group that has existed since 1987. The association operates a retail outlet in the visitor contact station and uses the proceeds to assist with refuge environmental and interpretive activities at both Chincoteague NWR and Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR some sixty miles south. The association has purchased audiovisual equipment, binoculars, and exhibits and sponsored interns working on refuge environmental programs.
from Away.com
