Letter from the President

...Setting aside the environment arguments near and dear to many of us, let's examine some cold, hard economic facts. Last year, Restore America's Estuaries released a report, "The Economic and Market Value of Coasts and Estuaries: What's At Stake?", and found that their contribution to the nation's economy is, well, staggering. Our coasts and estuaries are worth approximately $1 trillion annually to our economy. That is roughly the entire federal bailout package to date. Our coastal waterways support more than $800 billion in trade and commerce, and tens of billions in recreational dollars.

Forty-three percent of us live in coastal areas, accounting for 40 percent of all employment nationally, and a whopping 43 percent of our overall economic output. Recreation--tourism,beach-going, wildlife viewing, angling, and more--adds between $60 billion and $100 billion to the nation's ledger every year.

This is the conundrum facing our coastal areas in the 21st century: How do we balance our love for water and shore with all the uses and abuses--industrial, commercial, extractive, and recreational--we inflict on our coastal ecosystems?

A good first step is the recognition that our nation's coasts are irreplaceable, both ecologically and economically. Including habitat restoration funds in the stimulus package is a much-needed and long-awaited acknowlegement of that central truth.

All of us at RAE look forward to working with the new administration and Congress to make the preservation and restoration of our vital coastal regions a true national commitment.

Jeff Benoit
President and CEO