I know…it seems like we are constantly spamming your e-mail with subject lines that read…
I’ll explain. We are. We need your help.
Watermen, Waterpeople, Waterfolk are a rarely seen nomadic tribe. We chase wind and waves from beach to beach, 12 months a year. Usually living out of our vans.
Many organizations have “mission statements” that say they are about Public Access and Clean Water. We are active members of most. But Surfing…any kind of surfing, SUP’ing Kayaking, windsurfing, etc. on Long Island presents a special set of circumstances.
We need access to clean open water; and waves. These things rarely occur consistently in the same place. Especially on Long Island. This presents a problem. We don’t need just one beach…we need them all. But just for a little bit of time.
As Long Island continues to lose its public waterfront access at an alarming pace. Whether from habitat destruction, unsustainable growth, Privatization, archaic laws, etc. We had to do something. And so LIBAG.ORG , The Long Island Beach Access Group was born.
It’s a simple idea. We just want this generation and all future generations to be able to enjoy the beach as we did when we were kids. We advocate for public access, and we clean a lot of beaches.
For example, The American Littoral Society clean up each Fall is among our most important. Every piece of trash is counted and catalogued. The ALS maintains a database for use in understanding what is polluting our shores and where is it coming from. The Surfrider Foundation, ESA, Various fishing and environmental Groups, etc. We work with other groups who share our values. And we are fortunate to work with the Town of Babylon and the Long Island Regional State Parks Commission.
As individuals, we always leave the Beach with more trash than we came with. But that is not enough. So we raise public awareness through organized beach clean ups.
This year’s first Spring clean up was originally scheduled for March. But was postponed to April. This limited attendance.
Yet, on April 6th we coordinated with LIBBA, The Boy Scouts, several High schools, South Shore Paddleboards, , Bunger & the MSA to clean Robert Moses State Park field 2, Democrat Point, Gilgo State Park, and Sore Thumb. Close to 100 volunteers removed over 400 pounds of trash. And we will gladly continue to do it again. Our next Big one will be on May 4th for Love My Park’s Day. I know we will be at Gilgo to pick up trash and the windsurfers at Heckscher State Park to do the same.
We hope to see you at one event or the other.
As always we at LIBAG thank you and appreciate your participation.
We couldn’t do it without you.
For more information on any of the above groups or shops, visit their web pages at…
