Advocacy

by NY/NJ Baykeeper
Posted 11/19/2006

Baykeeper Advocacy initiatives shape our Estuary efforts

Much of the harm already done to our Estuary was propelled and justified by laws, regulations, and policies that focus exclusively on economic considerations at the cost of the environment, or focused on the needs of special interests over the needs of the people.

Baykeeper, through its advocacy programs, seeks to broaden this political, socio-economic view, adding a strong ecological component. By emphasizing and educating the public, politicians and regulators about such legal concepts as the Public Trust Doctrine (PTD) or Natural Resource Damages (NRD), we help people to see our Estuary from a new environmentally conscious point of view.

Our other watershed advocacy campaigns, such as our Passaic River Patrol, apply broad environmental concepts and legal precedents, such as PTD and NRD, to particular waterways. By offering local waterfront communities new, environmentally sound ways of thinking about their waterways, we gain new, fully engaged partners in the clean up of these streams and bays, for the restoration of wildlife habitat, and improvement of recreational opportunities.

Learn More About Baykeeper's Advocacy Efforts

To learn more about Baykeeper's role and history in advocacy for the Hudson/Raritan Estuary download a PDF version of the Winter 2006 15th Aniversary Issue of The Estuarian by clicking here.

For more information on Advocacy and the Estuary, here are some more Baykeeper documents in PDF version available for downloading. Just click on the document title.

Victory In The Meadowlands: Spring 2005 15th Aniversary issue of The Estuarion.

Brownfields to Greenfields: A Position Paper from The NY/NJ Baykeeper.

Taking Back What is Rightfully Yours: A Workshop Manual the NY/NJ Baykeeper Public Trust Doctrine.