Here we are in Martin County in the midst of an environmental disaster caused and allowed in large part by the state and federal governments.  In effect, they have directed the Army Corps of Engineers to destroy the Saint Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon to protect the interest of the sugar barons to the south and big agricultural farmers to the north. Now they want to take sand from our waters so that Miami can replenish its beach.

We have enough trouble just replenishing our own beaches with sand. At the rate Martin and Saint Lucie beaches are eroding, we are going to need all the sand we can get to stem that erosion from our barrier island.  Miami Beach, just as Hutchinson Island, is a barrier island which nature created to protect the mainland from the forces of the ocean. All barrier islands are meant to grow and contract to ebb and flow with the seasons and the passing of time.

In our hubris, we believe that what nature has created, man can change, alter and direct to his will.  So we develop those islands and allow homes, condos, and hotels to be built on a narrow sliver of land that is meant to disappear on occasion and then reform. Those islands are there to protect the breeding grounds for fish and birds.  The entire island is meant to be a beach with dunes and grasses.

If we just kept those incubators of life without private development and allowed nature to take its course, man would have an abundance of beaches for relaxation and recreation. The birds and fish could breed and feed and the plants would once again take root to protect the shoreline and provide habitat. That won’t happen! So I am in favor of keeping our sand here to replenish our beaches. But what happens when all the sand is gone from our area? Will we then finally have no choice but to have the islands revert to their natural state? Perhaps then we will call in the Corps to come up with a solution to stop the sands of time.