I finally saw MPT's weary shoreline and wanted to add my thoughts to those of Tim Wheeler, whose keen perceptions graced this blog earlier (he got an advanced copy of the show-I watched it along with the rest of the television public the other night.)

Overall, it was pretty good. I liked how the reporter focused on riverkeepers - both visually and because they're the front lines on a lot of this stuff. Bob Gallagher, Ed Kelly and Fred Tutman are extremely knowledgeable and came off well on camera; Drew Koslow would have also been good, as would have Ed Merrifield in the Potomac. But everyone needs editors...

It was also good to have affected homeowners make their cases that it's not fair that their neighbors get to build a pool and they don't, suggesting that who gets a variance is quite arbitrary. That is also timely given Wheeler's article in today's paper about the opposition to even relatively modest proposals to tighten the law.

Now, for the critique:

I agree with Wheeler that the special didn't do enough to explain how, exactly, development in the shoreline hurts the bay. How it promotes erosion, deposits more sediment into the water, fills in sensitive wetlands, takes away key habitat for shorebirds, nesting turtles and even shallow grasses for crabs. I know it's complicated, but without that piece, it makes the "why can't I build my patio?" question harder to answer.

Also, it's worth reminding people that there always were homes on the water, way before the Critical Area Law, but what people are doing now is tearing them down and building ever bigger ones. 

I also wish MPT hadn't spent so much of the documentary on the case of Dobbins Island, which the Magothy River Association is trying to preserve. The reporter said the county is going to let the new owner build a private home there, despite the critical area law.

But the reason for that is because there always was a home on the island, and the man who bought it did so with the understanding that he could build a new one (the old one was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.) The piece also didn't mention that the new owner is going to take on the responsibility of protecting the island from erosion, at a cost to him of about $1 million. That will make the island a lot safer, and should help the water quality.

Finally, he did not mention that the island's previous owners, Jim and Edward Wilson, tried very hard to get a nonprofit environmental group, the state and the federal parks service interested in buying the island in 2002, and no one was interested. The island, which has long been a de facto public park, was always considered too much of a liability.

I'm not saying the Dobbins guy should be able to do whatever he wants; that's clearly sensitive land. I'm just saying there are much better examples of major violations of the Critical Area Law. Environment Maryland pointed to six in a recent report.

 But I'm glad MPT did the special; the more awareness of these issues, the better.