FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2009
NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY / DAYBOOK ITEM
Due to the emergency wildfire situation impacting Horry County, the Grand Strand Community Leaders Discussion Forum has been postponed. A new meeting date will be set as soon as possible.
Grand Strand Community Leaders Forum on Shoreline Change
April 24, 2009
2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Public Hearing and Opportunity for Comment begins at 5:30 p.m.
Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies
Coastal Carolina University
Conway, S.C.
A video/photo opportunity will be offered as the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control assembles elected and municipal officials and other community, nonprofit and business leaders from the Grand Strand region to discuss opportunities and challenges related to shoreline change management.
Facilitated discussion topics among invited leaders will include implications of chronic erosion, gradual sea level rise, increased shoreline development and comprehensive beachfront management planning. Additionally, a public hearing and opportunity for comment will begin at 5:30 p.m. Comments and ideas generated by the facilitated discussion and offered by the public will further inform the policy option deliberations of DHEC's Shoreline Change Advisory Committee.
Organized by DHEC in 2007, the Shoreline Change Advisory Committee is an external advisory committee composed of a broad cross-section of stakeholders including scientists, coastal managers, municipal officials, developers, conservationists and legal professionals. The committees purpose is to organize existing shoreline research, identify research priority needs and consider policy-related issues concerning management of South Carolinas estuarine and beachfront shorelines. A report of the committees findings is planned for late 2009.
The Grand Strand Community Leaders Forum on Shoreline Change is being organized by the DHEC Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in partnership with Coastal Carolina University and the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. Meeting co-hosts include the Debordieu Colony Community Association, the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the municipalities of Pawleys Island, Briarcliff Acres, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
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For additional information on the Shoreline Change Advisory Committee visit: http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/ocrm/science/shoreline_comm.htm
or contact Dan Burger at 843-953-0251; e-mail burgerdj@dhec.sc.gov
or Thom Berry at 803-898-3885; e-mail berrytw@dhec.sc.gov