Published by News Center Maine on January 23, 2024.
ST. GEORGE, Maine — Walking along the fishermen’s co-op dock, Sam Belknap says it is a model for what the Maine coast must do to build resilience in the face of climate change.
“This is the type of investment all wharves need to be making,” he explained. Belknap is director of coastal economy for the Island Institute of Rockland, a nonprofit organization that has been helping coastal areas with economic and community development for the past 40 years.
The wharf, he explained, was rebuilt several years ago by the private owner and the Tenant’s Harbor co-op which share it. A state working waterfront grant and other financing helped pay for the work. The large dock was raised several feet higher than it had been, and that allowed it to escape damage in the destructive January 2024 storms that devastated much of Maine’s working waterfront.
“The water was a foot below the decking when most wharves along the coast were under water,” Belknap said. He emphasized that most of the docks on the coast need to be rebuilt in a similar way.
Climate change and rising sea levels, he said, leave little choice but to reinforce the coastal infrastructure to be higher and stronger.
The institute is spreading the word as it meets with coastal property and business owners, fishermen and local towns, to plan for future storms and embrace the need to be resilient.
Island Institute programs director Jennifer Seavey agrees.
“People got a real glimpse of what the future is going to look like,” Seavey said. “So we aren’t going to have those storms every year, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying those storms represent what it will look like in the future, so it’s crystal clear to all of us in Maine what we need to be prepared for.”
