Maine’s beach economy might go under
7/4/09 | 21 comments
sand dollars

Maine’s beach economy might go under


Conference to focus on the effects of rising sea level
By Clarke Canfield
The Associated Press
AP FILE PHOTO BY PAT WELLENBACH
In this 2007 photo, hundreds of people enjoy a sunny day at Old Orchard Beach. The 7-mile long beach has long been a haven for tourists. The value of Maine beaches and how sea level rise might affect those values are the focus of the 2009 Maine Beaches Conference to be held next week.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — Maine’s sand beaches bring about $500 million of new money into the state each year and support some 8,000 jobs, but the beach economy could be put in jeopardy because of the rising sea level.

As oceans continue to rise, coastal storms are likely to become more violent and more prevalent, scientists say. When those violent storms strike the Maine coast, they can wipe away beaches, wipe out businesses and put people out of work.

The value of Maine beaches and the impact of the rising sea level are the focus of the 2009 Maine Beaches Conference next Friday at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. The conference comes on the heels of the July Fourth weekend, the unofficial start of Maine’s beach-going season.

Maine has hundreds of miles of rocky coast but only 40 miles of sand beaches, mostly between Cape Elizabeth and Kittery. And it’s important to develop public policies to protect those beaches into the future, said Pete Slovinsky of the Maine Geological Survey.

“One of the reasons our beach communities do so well economically and are such an economic cash cow for the state is that they have beaches,” he said.

Though they comprise a small amount of coastline, Maine’s beaches bring a disproportionate amount of tourism dollars into the economy. Some economists say sand beaches are possibly as big an economic engine to Maine as the rest of the state’s coast combined.

The southern Maine coast is the state’s most frequently visited region — 45 percent of tourists visit the area while in the state, according to a 2006 study.

All those tourists create jobs and drive up retail sales, said Maine State Economist Michael LeVert. They also drive up property values in beachside communities. In York County beach towns, land that is within walking distance of the beaches makes up 5 percent of the acreage in those towns, LeVert said. But that same land makes up 34 percent of the valuation, he said.

Charles Colgan of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine co-authored a study last fall that used coastal York County as a case study looking at how continued sea level rise and coastal storm damage would affect businesses and employment in those beachside towns.

The dangers of coastal storms were brought to light two years ago when the Patriot’s Day storm of 2007 slammed into Maine, leaving 125,000 homes and businesses in the dark and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage.

The Patriot’s Day storm was “an unusual storm by historical standards,” Colgan said. “It will become the norm — in fact, it will become mild, by standards 30 to 50 years from now based on sea level rise.”

The sea level in Maine was rising at a rate of about half a millimeter a year — or roughly an inch every 50 years — from 3,000 years ago until Colonial times.

But the sea level rise accelerated to about nine-tenths of a millimeter a year for most of the 20th century and is believed to now be rising even faster — possibly more than 3 millimeters a year, or roughly an inch a decade.

Surprisingly, nobody knows for sure how many people visit Maine’s beaches. And nobody has attempted to put a monetary value on them.

While it’s clear the beaches bring value in the form of tourist dollars, jobs and enhanced property assessments, perhaps the greatest value is one that can’t be measured in dollars and cents, said Colgan, a former state economist.

“The biggest value may be the value of a day at the beach, even when we don’t pay for it,” Colgan said.

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Comments
21 comments on this item
On 7/4/09 at 6:31 AM, Ladyslipper wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Not to worry folks, this problem will resolve itself now that the Obama administration is addressing the issue of "ahem" climate change....Our new Climate CZAR and Obama will take care of everything.

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On 7/4/09 at 7:55 AM, schoonerdog wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

CZAR......Worked so well for the Russians....Why would we name an unelected overseer after a leader of a totalitarian regime??????

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On 7/4/09 at 8:29 AM, forHIMtoday wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

well, this has to be good news for those owning houses across the street from the beaches, soon they will have their turn to own ocean front property, its only fair. For those of you with your million dollar ocaen front homes, SAVE YOURSELVES! Step back from the water 1/8 inch, that should now be your safe zone. Rope yourselves together, inflate the rafts, put the bbq up on blocks, prepare, prepare, prepare. Thats the key to survival here.

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On 7/4/09 at 1:23 PM, ParkAveJoe wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Simple solution to rising oceans: dig canals or tunnels from the oceans to to low-lying wastelands, like death valley, to act as overflow basins.

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Power could also be generated from the water rushing through the tunnels.

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And great inland seas would be created, around which would be prime waterfront property to build on.

.

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On 7/4/09 at 1:26 PM, bemused wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

...and who was worried about the plight of the Wooly Mammoth? If we could have only exterminated all the sabre-tooth tigers...oh how guilty we should feel.

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On 7/4/09 at 3:01 PM, BigBoy wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Ladyslipper you people on here always find fault with Obama for everything that happens.......Hello the story is about the rising oceans but Im glad you think he is that powerful to have to comment on here...........just admit it you Republicans are to blame you gave the helm to the village idiot for 8 years now you got to live with it........GW screwed it up so bad that it allowed a Black president in office for the next 8YEARS YEE HAW!!!!!!!! Now go back and listen to Rush your leader!!!

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On 7/4/09 at 3:14 PM, gw2kpro wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

So, to sum it up, the doomsday prediction on here is that, assuming the current trend continues, the oceans will rise an inch a decade.

Man, I hope Maine's economy can survive all that.

Of course, that threat ranks about 498th on the risks to Maine's economy, but nobody yet has let any fact get in the way of bowing at the altar of the church of climate change.

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On 7/4/09 at 3:15 PM, outlaw wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

what have you got against obama,bush put us in this mess obama is just trying to lessen the blow,what a mess.peace

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On 7/4/09 at 3:26 PM, LawDisOrder wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I am sooo concerned about the global warming problem. It's July and you have to close the windows to keep the chill of the night air out, not to keep the summer heat out. I can't wait to see what taxes and fees are going to be attached to evil heating oil. Since heating oil for the most part only used in New England I guess we will have to take it for the rest of the country.With the highest elec. costs and soon even higher oil and gas costs none of us locals can afford to drive to the beach let alone own beach front property

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On 7/4/09 at 5:16 PM, Ladyslipper wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

BigBoy.....climate change aka global warming is the reason cited for the rising sea levels......

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On 7/4/09 at 6:15 PM, chersully2000 wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 7/4/09 at 6:17 PM, chersully2000 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

...unseasonable, rather.....

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On 7/4/09 at 6:52 PM, Cre8RoyalPalm wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Old Orchard Beach, Maine has been a favorite vacation spot for hundreds of thousands for many, many years. I remember as a child growing up in Bangor in the very early 1940's, we would take the train out of Union Station and head straight to old Orchard for a month of sun and fun in the sand. Of course, we did not really go near the "waves" because of the serious undertow which predominated the ocean-side shoreline. Although a lot of folks went "in", not me. The water was freezing; I was a "warm-water kid".

We always stayed at the Bowdon Hotel along the main street paralleling the beach. We had standing reservations there. My dad, who was a government employee (no, not the post office), joined my mother and me a week after we got settled-in, and spent another three weeks at Old Orchard with us. Tradition held that by 7am, my feet would be into the sand, gritty as it was, and I would run all around, play in the sand with my new toy cars or whatever, and meet "Jackie". Jackie was a teenager, a real girl and cute, too, but lived in OOB nearby. She would watch me so I would not go near the water. Nighttime was the time I would be set free to go into the entire arcade area with a pocketful of dimes, nickels and quarters to catch every ride, shoot the .22's at the targets, go on the Noah's Ark, or to walk the pier and enjoy whatever was going on out there. However, the days have gone by, too fast to imagine. But when I get to Maine on occasion, I always go back to OOB for the "trip" of it.

I see there is concern for the coastal beaches of Maine, and OOB at that. A lot of tourists to Maine in the summer, do not want to venture too far in, as remember Hampton Beach is not too far away, neither is Palisades Park. Old Orchard Beach is accessible and is also near to Portland. The trip into Bar Harbor (area) is long and boring; you see the same fir tree for miles and miles!

Now, the advent of our climate change, the phenomenon which occurs NATURALLY, is on the minds of environmentalists and planners, as our very beaches could become eroded and lessened as a result of ever-melting polar ice. So much for future economy and beach crowds - in the year 3068. If the current measurement of the sea level is rising an inch every ten years, and the average person's life span is 80+ years, then in 80 years, the sea will rise 8 inches. Not really significant to mention (I think) and not of concern to most of us, anyway. People will acclimate. We have no choice. In 100 years from now, it will not matter, anyway...and Obama Lama Ding Dong will also be a thing of the past. And the sea will just keep-on 'risin!

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On 7/4/09 at 7:19 PM, Ladyslipper wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 7/4/09 at 9:55 PM, upsidedownia wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

6:52 pm: "Obama lama ding dong." That's a good one! Especially when referring to our American President during war time. I'm sure that one keeps our boys looking up to their Commander in Chief. Ah ha ha!

Here's another good one a friend made up: "Bush is slang for pubic hair."

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On 7/4/09 at 10:17 PM, chersully2000 wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 7/5/09 at 6:10 PM, Sledman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Every time I read this I laugh harder & harder. The real title for this 'news' should be: 'A bunch of alarmists to hold a conference to strategize on how to create panic so they can justify their own existence, the existence of an unnecessary govt branch & strategize on how to collect tarp funds'. Sheeple, mark my words, some how, some way, these self proclaimed enviro theologians will collect our taxpayer dollars. Clarke buddy, you 'forgot' to mention the supposed 8,000 jobs are minimum wage seasonal jobs & nice job Enquirizing the heck out of this story (not news). Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Over.

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On 7/5/09 at 8:11 PM, golferjoe wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Sledman your correct. The taxpayer dollars will be paying a carbon tax.

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On 7/6/09 at 9:52 AM, Confederate_Yankee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

THE SKY IS FALLING!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!

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On 7/7/09 at 7:23 AM, howbri wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Ever hear of Archimedes Principle? It completely debunks the rising sea propaganda. It ain't gonna happen folks!!

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On 7/7/09 at 6:20 PM, JJHampden wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Oh NO !

We're ALL Gonnah DIE !

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES !

Whut tah HOOT ! LOL !

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