The Jersey Shore
Flying a kite with my son

The Jersey Shore

Like so many others, I have been visiting the?Jersey?shore?every summer with my family since childhood. I know some of the beaches very well. And yet, there are others that I haven’t been to and don’t know at all. So I picked up The?Jersey?Shore: Past, Present & Future of a National Treasure by Dominick Mazzagetti this summer, hoping to learn more.

Reading this wonderful book while listening to the waves crash, I learned about the indigenous people who first inhabited the areas; the early explorers, settlers, and colonists who followed; the whalers, pirates, smugglers, and privateers who fancied these?shores; the railroads, first summer vacationers, and fledgling resorts; the shipwrecks and lighthouses; the WW1 and WW2 submarine attacks; the intracoastal waterway; the fires, hurricanes, and nor’easters that ravaged communities; the major ports and commercial fishing fleets that developed; the shark attacks that sadly occurred; and about the Garden State Parkway, building boom, and growing tourism industry that transformed the?Jersey?Shore.

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-jersey-shore/9780813593746/

Watching my boys jump waves, build sandcastles, and guard their snacks against daring seagulls, I realized how fortunate we are to have the?shore?nearby - and how grateful I was personally to be able to share the experience with my kids. It has been heartwarming to see how they’ve already grown to love our beautiful beaches and how excitedly they look forward to our visits each year.

As we grow older, my wife and I remark on the changes we see at the?shore. Like the tide’s ebb and flow, some businesses and buildings come and go. Others remain, becoming landmarks in their own right, like a bulwark against time, helping to preserve the sense of place. I have been visiting the?shore?for nearly 40 years now; it somehow always manages to both change and stay the same.

More than thirty miles of the?Jersey?Shore?remains undeveloped today.

“These dunes weren’t here when I was a kid”, I tried telling my boys, interrupting their play and probably sounding, to them, like an old man of the sea. “Long ago there were natural dunes, but people knocked them down to build homes and hotels, and for a better view,” I continued, undeterred as they return to playing. “Then the storms came along and we learned why the dunes were important. Not only did they provide habitat, but they also protected all the buildings.”

The boys only half-listened to me. But as the waves inevitably came in with the tide, washing away their sandcastles, they learned the lesson from Mother Nature nonetheless. I wonder what the future holds for the?Jersey?shore. I hope my boys will come back to visit when they’re adults, perhaps they’ll even introduce their own children to the simple pleasures of this beautiful environment. But I also worry it won’t be nearly the same for them, not unless we do more to protect it.

Enjoying the sunrise

In the final chapters of his book, Mazzagetti does an excellent job examining some of the more pressing challenges facing our coastal communities in the twenty-first century. A retired lawyer, he carefully explores the history of disputes involving race relations and environmental justice, beach access and the public trust doctrine, eminent domain and private property rights, home rule and state/federal intervention, Superstorm Sandy, disaster response, and beach nourishment, and more. While he goes into more detail about each challenge, he succinctly frames some of the overarching forces at play:

"increased attention and emphasis on environmental issues, recognition that the beaches are fragile resources requiring continued and expensive maintenance, court-driven declaration that beaches are a public resource available to all citizens of the state, and the growing perception that private property rights do not trump public access…

the reluctance of local governments and homeowners to relinquish home rule, the state’s interest in guaranteeing public access to its beaches, state and federal efforts to protect the coastline and the citizens living near the coastline from storms and erosion, the state’s economic interest in a vibrant tourism economy, the continued viability of the fishing industry, the private property rights of landowners living and working near the shore, and the call of environmentalists to limit construction and rebuilding to preserve as much open space as possible and to reclaim more."

No doubt, the future of the Jersey Shore will be shaped by the interaction of these competing interests. But the coastlines are also a naturally dynamic place. The waves, tides, ocean currents, winds, rain, storms, and hurricanes, geological activity, climate change, ocean warming, sea level rise – all of these forces will also continue to shape our shores. If we hope to save this coastal environment for future generations, we will need to do much more in terms of preservation, protection, mitigation, restoration, and adaptation. Otherwise, the current trajectory is simply unsustainable.

Star Jet Roller Coaster after Hurricane Sandy by Anthony Quintano

Historic estimates suggest several million people visited the Jersey Shore by the 1960s. By 2013, that number rose to about 87.2 million people. Last year (2013), over 120 million people visited. New Jersey lays at the center of the Northeast Megalopolis, a group of interconnected metropolitan areas along the Atlantic seaboard stretching from Boston to Washington D.C. In 1960, the population of this megaregion was about 40 million people. Today, it is the world’s largest megaregion with a population of about 50 million people. What's more, it is projected to grow to nearly 60 million people by 2050.

Over the past 350 years the people living and working and vacationing on the?Jersey?Shore?have fashioned the remaining ninety-seven miles to their individual liking, a greater percentage of its coastland than most neighboring Atlantic Ocean states.

Since 1960, New Jersey’s population has grown from about 6 million people to now over 9 million people. It is projected to reach nearly 10 million people by 2050. With growing state and regional populations, the tourism and development pressures facing the Jersey Shore over the next 25-30 years will continue to increase. The decisions we make today about protecting our coastal resources will have significant and lasting consequences. But these decisions, by no means, will be easy.

Aerial View of Belmar Beach by Andrew Mills, NJ Advance Media for

As Mazzagetti more adeptly explains:

"More than thirty miles of the?Jersey?Shore?remains undeveloped today: the northern end of Sandy Hook, Island?Beach?State Park, the Edwin B. Forsyth National Wildlife Refuge at Holgate, Peck’s?Beach?in Corson’s Inlet State Park, the Two Mile?Beach?Unit in the Wildwoods, Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, and Cape May Meadows. Over the past 350 years the people living and working and vacationing on the?Jersey?Shore?have fashioned the remaining ninety-seven miles to their individual liking, a greater percentage of its coastland than most neighboring Atlantic Ocean states. Some people suggest that efforts to protect or replenish beaches are a losing battle, that we should allow nature to take its course, returning as much of the?shore?to a natural state as possible. Others preferred the status quo and, as much as we might want to believe that undeveloped beauty surpasses man-made pleasures, hundreds of thousands of visitors still rush to the developed communities each year.

Abandoning the beachfront to nature, in the midterm or over decades, has its advocates, but such a policy would impact private property rights, business interests, and the state’s economy. The density of construction in place and the state population’s emotional attachment to the?shore?also preclude retreat. People enjoy the boardwalks, the rides, fishing in the bays, riding the waves, and the beauty of an empty?beach?just footsteps from a summer cottage. Tourists and vacationers would protest the fewer opportunities for their families to enjoy the beaches. Local seashore businessmen would join them. Just offshore, the state and federal governments cannot move away from continuous efforts to maintain the inlets with jetties and bulwarking to protect fishermen and sportsmen from danger as the inlets and the nearby shoals shift from year to year. Retreat remains a minority view, albeit with strong voices calling for policies to prevent rebuilding of damaged and destroyed properties on or near the water. The debate is complex."

The question of whether the Jersey Shore should continue to rebuild after storms or whether it should manage retreat is complicated. There are numerous environmental, economic, social, and political considerations. Both strategies have their pros and cons, and the best approach may involve a combination of the two. Ultimately, any decision will need to take into account the specific circumstances of each community, the environmental and economic realities of the region, and the projected impacts of climate change. Balancing the need to protect lives, livelihoods, and the environment with the desire to preserve the cultural and economic significance of the Jersey Shore will be key to developing a sustainable approach.

Admiring this horseshoe crab

The Jersey Shore is a special place. Its beautiful barrier islands, dunes, marshes, and estuaries serve as vital habitats for a diverse range of species, including migratory birds, fish, and other wildlife. These sensitive ecosystems provide nursery grounds for marine life and are critical for maintaining biodiversity. They provide habitat for several endangered and threatened species, such as the piping plover, diamondback terrapin, and various species of sea turtles. The dunes and wetlands act as buffers against storms and coastal flooding. The wetlands and estuaries naturally filter our water, trapping pollutants and sediments from rivers and runoff before they reach the ocean. The salt marshes and seagrass beds serve as carbon sinks. The shore may be a major tourist destination, but the health of the beaches, water, and surrounding ecosystems are also vitally essential to sustaining that economic activity. We must not lose sight of that.

The Jersey Shore is a fragile treasure that needs to be protected and preserved.

Reflecting on the long history of our coast, the current state of affairs, and what may lie ahead, Mazzagetti offers this:

"As a society we share a responsibility to maintain the treasure that is the?Jersey?Shore, in large part because it brings pleasure to millions of people and can continue to do so for millions more in the future. Just as we recognize the impediments to abandoning our shore to nature, we need to recognize the dangers the beaches face from storms, constant erosion, global warming, and continued building at or near the beaches, on barrier islands, and in environmentally sensitive areas. The Jersey Shore is a fragile treasure that needs to be protected and preserved."

I couldn't agree more. I don't know what the future holds for the Jersey Shore, but I do know that it is a very special place. We have a shared responsibility to care for it.

The Jersey Shore: Past, Present & Future of a National Treasure is a well-written, entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking read. For anyone who enjoys going “down the shore”, who is curious about its past, or who is concerned about its future, I highly recommend this wonderful book. Enjoy your summer!

Edward W. Purcell

Results Oriented Attorney

3 个月

Corey, Dominick used to give a great cle presentation on his book. I think there's any planned for the time being. It is a very interesting book.

Ryan Swanton

Sales at Orbel Corporation

3 个月

Well said, Corey. Just purchased that book and look forward to reading it

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