ROCKLAND, ME – Rob Snyder, President of the Island Institute, joined Congresswoman Chellie Pingree on Thursday, November 2nd at 10:00 a.m., to testify before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans on behalf of Pingree’s bipartisan bill, HR 1176, the Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act.
The hearing took place at 1324 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., and will be live-streamed on the House Committee on Natural Resources YouTube channel.
To see video of Rob Snyder’s live testimony, click here.
In addition, a copy of his full written testimony is available here:
Testimony of Rob Snyder on behalf of HR 1176
BACKGROUND:
Working waterfronts support thousands of Maine jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. But due to development pressures, they have been reduced to just 20 miles of Maine’s 5,300-mile coastline.
Congresswoman Pingree has long advocated for federal resources to help Maine communities preserve and expand shoreline access and infrastructure for water-dependent industries, such as fishing, boat building, and aquaculture.
Earlier this year, she introduced HR 1176, the Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act with Republican Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia.
The bill would establish a Working Waterfront Grant Program to provide matching, competitive grants to coastal states. These grants would help to preserve and expand access to coastal waters for commercial fishing, recreational guiding, aquaculture, boat building, and other water-dependent businesses.
The bill would also create a Working Waterfront Task Force at the Department of the Interior. The task force would identify and prioritize critical working waterfront needs with respect to their cultural and economic importance, climate change and other environmental threats, and market conditions for water-dependent businesses.
