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Working Waterways & Waterfronts
22nd Annual Conference of the States Organization for Boating Access (SOBA)
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Virginia Department of Health are proud to host the 22nd Annual SOBA Conference at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia, October 13-16, 2008. The conference attracts over 200 State program specialists, boating and marine related manufacturers, engineers, materials specialty industry, construction contractors, educators, and administrators representing state and federal agencies, natural resources consulting firms, private and non-profit companies and other boating organizations. Participants come from all 50 states, and the United States Territories. For more information, visit the SOBA 2008 Conference website or download the Conference Registration Form.
2008 Coastal Access & Working Waterfront Survey
Virginia Sea Grant and the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority are working to asses the public water access needs and waterfront conflicts that may be occurring within the Tidewater region of Virginia. People that work, live or recreate on and near the waters of the lower Chesapeake Bay are invited to participate in this survey.
Conference 2007 Proceedings Now Available
Download PDF files of the proceedings from the Presentations page.
BoatU.S. Access Awards
At the Working Waterways & Waterfronts 2007 Symposium, BoatU.S. awarded seven recipients with the first ever BoatU.S. Recreational Boating Access Awards. The winners were:
Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (VA)
Shoreline Property Owners and Contractors Association (WA)
Carryover of the Carolinas (NC)
Scituate Marine Park (MA)
Port of Bellingham (WA)
City of Trenton (MI)
North Carolina General Assembly
For more information, go to the BoatU.S. Recreational Boating Access Award
2007 Conference Agenda
Click here for a printer-friendly (pdf) agenda.
Audience
Coastal area managers and planners, public officials, resource agency staff, water-dependent industries (fishing, marinas, boat yards, etc.), non-government organizations, the legal profession, and national, state, and local government legislative staff.
Rationale
Coastal communities and water-dependent industries face difficult but critical challenges: how to balance development pressures, recreational demands, and tourism with strategies for community development and business growth that are equitable and sustainable. Water-dependent enterprises--traditionally small businesses engaged in recreation, tourism and marine trades--are at risk. As a result, land use planners, politicians, and decision makers are not equipped to make reasonable decisions about waterfront development, and the inclusion or exclusion of water-based and water-dependent industries.
This symposium will bring together current thinking regarding the growing impediments to boating and fishing access. It will educate attendees about local, state, and national-level initiatives that address water access and develop management approaches to the access dilemma.
Principal Sponsor
Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council
2007 Conference Convener
Thomas J. Murray, Virginia Sea Grant Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary
Credits
Some photos on this site are courtesy of Maine Working Waterfront Coalition.
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