In Massachusetts and Maine (which used to be part of Massachusetts) properties are owned down to the low water line. I figure this was an incentive to 'improve' the shorefront with stones docks and piers. 'Docks' at the time were water impoundments, essentially - stone enclosures where boats/ships could be tied up in protected waters. These could then be filled in over time and the land thus incrementally extended into the sea.
On the public education front, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve has done an excellent job of explaining why the land was created during Geo Washington's time and asking hard questions about who (people or animal or plant!) has the right to call it "depraved."
Always engaging Antonia. As a person in another ecosystem without easy access to the reading material I am a bit like the neighbors of the Dutch or Singapore :)
I love the author Winchester also and have enjoyed his writing. Land recovery is an interesting issue as an aside. I did a post about the Dutch but will not link here as I consider it bad form :( I consider the flipside of the Dutch expertise and offer that Bush 42 REFUSED the assistance of the Dutch after a major hurricane to rethink how we might manage Gulf Coast storms. The Dutch built the Zuider Zee for less than the cost of one storm, hurricane Harvey that affected Houston.
Singapore, a country EXISTENTIALLY threatened by sea rise has invited the Dutch as PARTNERS to collectively harden their nation against an uncertain future. My POV is the pivot to rapid sea rise is now within our lifetimes after a VERY SLOW rise the previous 60 years. Places like Cambodia and the struggling third world will weather the worst of the consequences by the mid 2030s while the rich world will be able to build its way out of it at least for perhaps 20 years.
You might be interested in taking a look at an example of the converse of reclaimed land - my wife and I live on a houseboat in Seattle and own the mud on the bottom of the lake beneath our house. Yet the lake itself is public and people kayak freely by our bedroom door. The land was deeded before the lake was dammed up for locks to the salt water. The flooded land retains its private title.
One of my favourite places in Toronto is the Leslie Street Spit or Tommy Thompson park which a long peninsula (I think) that is built on construction waste and landfill. Now an internationally significant bird site. “Naturalization had not been planned” is a line I always remember and love from the Wikipedia article (from years ago). Says a lot about how often it is indeed and must be planned, most of the time. I like that it mostly belongs to the birds now and hopefully will for a long time. Thanks for the thoughts!
In Massachusetts and Maine (which used to be part of Massachusetts) properties are owned down to the low water line. I figure this was an incentive to 'improve' the shorefront with stones docks and piers. 'Docks' at the time were water impoundments, essentially - stone enclosures where boats/ships could be tied up in protected waters. These could then be filled in over time and the land thus incrementally extended into the sea.
On the public education front, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve has done an excellent job of explaining why the land was created during Geo Washington's time and asking hard questions about who (people or animal or plant!) has the right to call it "depraved."
https://www.harvard.com/book/gaining_ground_a_history_of_landmaking_in_boston/
Always engaging Antonia. As a person in another ecosystem without easy access to the reading material I am a bit like the neighbors of the Dutch or Singapore :)
I love the author Winchester also and have enjoyed his writing. Land recovery is an interesting issue as an aside. I did a post about the Dutch but will not link here as I consider it bad form :( I consider the flipside of the Dutch expertise and offer that Bush 42 REFUSED the assistance of the Dutch after a major hurricane to rethink how we might manage Gulf Coast storms. The Dutch built the Zuider Zee for less than the cost of one storm, hurricane Harvey that affected Houston.
Singapore, a country EXISTENTIALLY threatened by sea rise has invited the Dutch as PARTNERS to collectively harden their nation against an uncertain future. My POV is the pivot to rapid sea rise is now within our lifetimes after a VERY SLOW rise the previous 60 years. Places like Cambodia and the struggling third world will weather the worst of the consequences by the mid 2030s while the rich world will be able to build its way out of it at least for perhaps 20 years.
You might be interested in taking a look at an example of the converse of reclaimed land - my wife and I live on a houseboat in Seattle and own the mud on the bottom of the lake beneath our house. Yet the lake itself is public and people kayak freely by our bedroom door. The land was deeded before the lake was dammed up for locks to the salt water. The flooded land retains its private title.
No snow here in my region, Canada's capital , we had record highs in the last week, not in a hurry to see it, 😅 !
One of my favourite places in Toronto is the Leslie Street Spit or Tommy Thompson park which a long peninsula (I think) that is built on construction waste and landfill. Now an internationally significant bird site. “Naturalization had not been planned” is a line I always remember and love from the Wikipedia article (from years ago). Says a lot about how often it is indeed and must be planned, most of the time. I like that it mostly belongs to the birds now and hopefully will for a long time. Thanks for the thoughts!