The beauty of the Lowcountry meets the beast of overcrowding

Any one of you that reads my columns with regularity knows I try my best to add a touch of rather warped humor to my stories and at all costs, avoid politics. So keeping to that I am going to try and not step on a crack and break my mother’s back.

I might lean toward that crack, step back a bit, and maybe consider breaking the plane but if things go according to plan, mother is going to be standing straight and tall by column’s end.

Was that too weird or what? Oh well, here goes nothing.

Overall, I am an optimist and try to see the bright side of things and people no matter what I see or hear. That said, I am concerned about my beloved Lowcountry and the way it is heading. Maybe it’s the Heritage and spring break traffic that is prompting me to stray into this delicate area, but whatever the reason, I just have to get this off my chest.

I don’t know about you folks, but I really don’t like change. I know change is inevitable, but when it comes to my daily routines, I am pretty set in my ways. Maybe not to the point of Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day,” but pretty darn close.

When I was deciding what I should write about a day or so ago, I took a break from thinking and turned on the idiot box. I flipped through the channels and ended up watching a show called “Earth From Space” on the Smithsonian channel. In a nutshell, astronauts that had spent a lot of time in space over the years described the changes to our planet they had witnessed over the last couples of decades.

I was taken back by their unique perspective on just how much the earth has changed in this tiny sliver of time. From the dwindling snowcap on Mt. Kilimanjaro to cities in China that had grown from 1,000 residents to millions in such a short span, it blew my mind.

The common thread, it seemed, was simply that we need to do a better job caring for the planet, or in time, with the projected population growth, we will no longer be able to sustain the masses.

I will say that it wasn’t all doom and gloom, because they also showed how creative human thinking might make the future bright indeed.

So what does this have to do with the Lowcountry? To me at least, we are simply a microcosm of this very same issue. Growth is definitely taking our little paradise into uncharted waters. When I use the word “waters” it should be stressed that to someone like myself that term has a double meaning. I see our waters as the biggest draw of all.

As our population increases at a phenomenal rate, it concerns me that more is not being done to protect this, our most valuable resource. What makes me say that? It’s my 64 years of observing our waters from ground level.

Quite frankly, I have seen changes from decade to decade, from year to year and at times, from day to day.

Believe me when I say it is at times inconvenient to get involved in local issues. The politics alone are what usually keeps my mouth shut, so I prefer instead to pick my purposes and do whatever little I can to champion awareness.

You all know I have a soft spot for places like the Waddell Mariculture Center and the work they do, but in general, I try my best to simply raise awareness. If I can accomplish that, I go back to my rather mundane daily routine with a bluebird on my shoulder and a fishing rod in my hand.

As much as I try and avoid politics, I will find out if a decision I made just recently will come back and bite me in the you-know-what. It took some urging but I have taken on a three-year stint on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Advisory Committee. I leave today, Sunday, for my first three-day conference in Charleston discussing better ways to manage our fisheries, in particular cobia and king mackerel.

Having served on advisory boards in the past, I just hope they know that I am not your average human. Unlike most, if it passes through my mind it someway squirrels it way out of my mouth. I’ll let you know how it goes and whether they brought back tar and feathering.

So why did I ramble on like this? I could have said it in very few words, but my contract with the Packet asks for 500 words so there you have it. I simply want every one of you to look at what we have here and get involved in some shape or form to make sure we get it right. Your lifestyle, along with mine, depends on it.

This story was originally published April 12, 2018 at 7:22 PM with the headline "The beauty of the Lowcountry meets the beast of overcrowding."