Save Salt River Bay

I am totally against this initiative. Salt River Bay does not need to be saved from the MREC. The local earth muffins are against any type of development.

Please please please get information before you make a judgement call on this. Call the NPS! The MREC doesn't even have funding yet.

Check this link: http://www.savesaltriverbay.net/about/mission-vision/

What I found interesting was that while MREC proposes to "foster understanding, proper management, and public awareness of the importance of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems" the fact that the very large area they wish to build upon will disturb and disrupt the immediate and surrounding location and marine and land species they tout they have an interest in protecting.
Why the need for such a large facility to begin with?

Here's another: • Construct the MREC to be passively survivable (includes storm surge and climate change) with a 49 year lifespan.
Seriously, a 49 yr. lifespan? Then what? Do they have to actually build in this location to attain their goals? Just curious.

I've seen and read the link. It is all slanted. Before you make a decision get both sides by contacting the NPS.

the simple fact...the simple truth...is that the NPS and the universities associated with the proposed MREC are attempting to construct a huge campus that will forever alter some of the most historic sites in the western hemisphere. the very lands that the NPS is ENTRUSTED to preserve and protect...is now being offered for development. the bio-luminescent bay? once heralded by the NPS as critically important...is now "expendable" AND what about the wetlands/bird sanctuary area of salt river? NPS is supposedly entrusted to protect this area. is it possible we can no longer trust the NPS to protect our most important historic and environmental sites?

the NPS is lying.
the universities are in this for their own benefit.

save salt river now.

PS...Most of the people working to save salt river and not "earth muffins". I am not an "earth muffin". I believe in development. I believe the MREC would be a wonderful thing for Christiansted and St Croix. the money would be better spent on renovation and restoration of buildings in Christiansted...these could house MREC students, faculty, workers...and this would help revitalize Christiansted. I will offer an example of what can happen when big money saves a town. Look to Savannah, GA...and the incredible change brought by SCAD - The Savannah College of Art and Design. Block after block of restoration, small business growth, better and safer towns...great for local residents and tourism. The same could happen...easily...if MREC comes to Christiansted.

and thanks Alana 33 🙂
we need all the help we can get from people on St Thomas!
keep the message out there ~ and spread the word!

Blah blah blah...tropical storms, hurricanes and other natural events dramatically change the nature of our coral reefs, wetlands and other earth features more than the MREC ever will but you can't stop them now can you? MREC is a responsible and reasonable development that is much needed.

This is a classic case of not in my back yard.

I think building a University affiliated research facility on St. Croix is a fantastic / awesome / great idea.
That said, I used to live in Judiths Fancy, bordering the proposed MREC site. A few concerns I have:
a) do they have permission from Judiths Fancy to drive through the private, quiet residential neighborhood?
b) do they know that Least Terns nest on the spit of sand just west of the MREC site?
c) will they be building tall rotor style wind turbines? lots of Pelicans and Frigate love to cruise that shoreline.
d) are they factoring in salt spray into their design? It always amazed me how quicky my stuff would corrode / rust / break.
e) how will they protect Salt River and its bio-luminessence from harm during and after construction? It is becoming a real tourist draw.

Have they considered other locations on St. Croix which may not have as many negative impacts?
1) Good Hope School = on the beach, has almost everything they need and its available
2) Farliegh Dickinson site = next door to the Yacht Club, a Hugo Wreck, but most of the buildings are still standing
3) the abandoned / empty housing project just west of Christiansted next to WAPA = a lot of work, but you can walk to town
4) East End Marine Park = an amazing south shore bay to explore
5) Cane Bay = there are a couple of 100 acre parcels available, and talk about a great location to dive / research

A few concerns I have:
a) do they have permission from Judiths Fancy to drive through the private, quiet residential neighborhood?

They don't need it. They will access from the St. John side via the former haul road used to remove the hotel remains.

Again it begs the question re: disrupting a pristine place to build a large facility where it disrupts wildlife that they wish to protect when they are other options for the same facility to be built in another location that would not have any detrimental impact. Once it's built, there will be lots of comings and goings in that particular environment that there insn't now so why that specific location if they wish to protect it? Seems self defeating.

Please please please get information before you make a judgement call on this. Call the NPS! The MREC doesn't even have funding yet.

Are you the Joshua Torres that spoke Thursday night representing NPS and referring to people that oppose the research facility as "whiners"?

Salt River Bay is one of the most significant treasures of natural, cultural, scientific, and recreational resources in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It has been identified by the National Trust for Historical Preservation as one of the eleven most endangered sites
in the United States and Territories.

The cultural, historical and natural treasures… beauty of the land and waterscapes, the ecosystem, the bio bay, the potential desecration of the largest remaining mangrove forest in St. Croix… are all at a crossroads with the decision to locate the MREC project here. The national park was established to preserve this rich heritage, so that residents and visitors to St. Croix can all benefit from its beauty, history and charm. Destroying it to build a research campus and marina for a limited number of people to experience is beyond comprehension.

Worth noting that it is also against public law 102-247 for public park land to be handed over to universities to take control of and manage and yet this is exactly what the MREC plan proposes.

I have nothing against them building the facility. I just do not believe it belongs in the location they have chosen at Salt River due to the above post by MGW. Let them build it but not there.

No I am not.
I am his wife however.

Maybe you can tell me from where dr Torres and mr devera get their smug and snarky attitude?

I can not comment as I was not at the meeting. Are you the person who distributed the map that had the major archaeological sites in the wrong places? IE... Misleading the public into thinking they were going to be destroyed?

Nope.

Don't know anything about that.

Salt River Bay is one of the most significant treasures of natural, cultural, scientific, and recreational resources in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It has been identified by the National Trust for Historical Preservation as one of the eleven most endangered sites
in the United States and Territories.

The cultural, historical and natural treasures… beauty of the land and waterscapes, the ecosystem, the bio bay, the potential desecration of the largest remaining mangrove forest in St. Croix… are all at a crossroads with the decision to locate the MREC project here. The national park was established to preserve this rich heritage, so that residents and visitors to St. Croix can all benefit from its beauty, history and charm. Destroying it to build a research campus and marina for a limited number of people to experience is beyond comprehension.

Worth noting that it is also against public law 102-247 for public park land to be handed over to universities to take control of and manage and yet this is exactly what the MREC plan proposes.

Amen!

.... The national park was established to preserve this rich heritage, so that residents and visitors to St. Croix can all benefit from its beauty, history and charm...

I can't see how anyone is benefiting today from the area they are planning to build on. The park area on the eastern shore is gated off to keep the 'public' from accessing it. I guess we can only be permitted to enjoy it's beauty, history and charm from a distance.

I can see the proposed site from my house. I think the area they have chosen is suitable for the intended purpose. If the project results in greater public access to the area, and more awareness, then I think that is a good thing.

i dont know about that, but beeski has some good and valid concerns

"Preserve" doesn't necessarily mean absolutely no development in my opinion.

Hello All,

This thread has just been brought to my attention. I wanted to quickly add a few things and post probably entirely too many direct quotations from the relevant official documents.

To begin, I was at the meeting and I did not hear Dr. Torres call the SSRB people “whiners” and honestly, having met the man briefly, I would be most surprised if it turns out he did. This is not to say that there isn’t plenty of name calling going on. I find this unfortunate and I cannot interpret it in any way other than as a tactic to undermine the challenges put forth by SSRB by trying to undermine those making the challenges instead of addressing the issues at hand. So, let's stick to the issues.

In his lecture on the archeological findings of Salt River Bay, Dr. Torres never once mentioned the official report conducted by Hardy in 2007 as part of criteria fulfillment for the MREC development. At one point in the lecture, Dr. Torres tried to advance the position that the land had been devastated by previous development, a position that is directly refuted by the official report. See below:

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Archeological Investigations at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Meredith D. Hardy 2007

http://www.nps.gov/seac/research/pub/seacreports/SEAC-01953.pdf

“The upland and inland areas of Estate Judith’s Fancy have been, comparatively speaking, little disturbed; bulldozers were used to remove trees, and today the area is composed of dense scrub vegetation. Push piles are evident, but exposed profiles from archeological excavations conducted in the mid 1980’s reveal that much of the original subsurface remains intact.” p8-9.

“The only site encountered during this survey that is potentially eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places is the Lignum Vitae site (Judith’s Fancy, 12VAm1-5). . . . The Lingum Vitae/Judith’s Fancy site can be listed individually under Criterion D, as it has yielded and is likely to continue to yield important information on the prehistory of St. Croix. Through the site has been partially excavated, it still retains intact archeological deposits that contain critical information on the lifeways of St. Croix’s prehistoric populations” p.50

“Site 12VAm1-5 (the Lignum Vitae site) is fairly intact and has the potential to reveal much information about the lives of prehistoric communities in the Salt River watershed. Radiometric testing of wood, shell, and a human tooth obtained during the 2005 excavations have dated the site to cal A.D. 540-890. The site contains intact remains of prehistoric human settlement, including carbonized wooden posts and both primary and secondary human burials.”p.49

“a Phase II cultural resource survey should be conducted for either selected location prior to construction.” p.2
“a Phase II archeological survey of a corridor surrounding and following the old road should be conducted if it is to be used to access the proposed center.” p.2

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Overall the message between the lecture and the testimony given by other NPS representatives at the end of the lecture seemed to be that there is nothing of importance to be found in Salt River, hence no reason to preserve that land from being developed. Obviously, given the other NPS documents we have discussing the importance of the land, this is a relatively new position for NPS to take. In the early 90’s when NPS was trying to get the land, they were advocating the position that it was some of the most precious and important land in the entire Caribbean.

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“Salt River Bay and Watershed (APR) Area of Particular Concern (APC) And Area For Preservation And Restoration (APR): A Comprehensive Analytic Study,”

V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources Coastal Zone Management Program, 1993
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/CREWS/Cleo/St.%20Croix/salt_river87.pdf

“On the bay's east side, an Amerindian burial ground, in use between A .D . 66 and 1015, is located adjacent to Cabo de las Flechas, and "may be the most significant find this nature in the Caribbean" (NPS, 1990) . p.26

“The first bloody encounter between Amerindians and Europeans occurred at the same time off of Cabo de las Flechas. An excursion party from the Columbus fleet engaged in a skirmish with Amerindians while returning to their ships anchored off the western half of the entrance to Salt River. Thus, the skirmish site itself, although not a geographically defined site, is an historic site of educational interest.” p. 27

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Even as recently as 2011 the archeological evidence unearth seemed to be much more impressive in the report given at the time:

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Archeological Research at Salt River Bay NHP & EP, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/saltRiverBay.htm

“From May 5-June 4, 2011. Students from USC and the University of Virgin Islands (UVI), led by David Goldstein (SCIAA) and NPS archeologist Meredith Hardy, conducted excavations at a prehistoric village that dates to ca. A.D. 400-600.”
“Salt River Bay encompasses a variety of high energy ecosystems: estuarine bay, coral reefs, sea grass beds, a deep near-shore undersea canyon, and the largest remaining mangrove forest in St. Croix. In addition to the diversity of natural resources, the island witnessed a unique colonial history encompassing at least two different indigenous Amerindian populations, six European colonial occupations, myriad African Diaspora communities, and forced slave migrations. . . In this relatively small area of the Salt River Bay, researchers as well as visitors to Salt River Bay (NHP &EP) can observe first-hand the challenges to sustain life in the islands, and solutions used by different human social groups, and plant and animal communities, to meet these challenges.”
To collect field data on a nearly 1,500-year old archeological site, and to develop oral history data regarding historic land use on the island. . . Eight students participated in the archeological fieldwork component of the field school, excavating a portion of a prehistoric site on the grounds of Judith’s Fancy. . . Excavation efforts were focused on a portion of a possible structure and the central plaza of the village.
The excavations produced interesting information about the daily lives of St. Croix’s earliest inhabitants, such as cooking practices, housing construction technologies, and ceremonial practices. In the central plaza area a nearly complete ceramic griddle, or burén, was found, used to prepare and cook manioc into cassava bread. Pieces of a pottery vessel likely used to ferment beverages were also recovered”
“In addition to numerous stone and shell tools, students also found a nephrite or “jadeite” carved frog. These small frogs . . . are typically found at Caribbean sites attributed to the Saladoid cultural phase (400 B.C. to A.D. 500)
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Dr. Torres ended the lecture by emphasizing just how endangered the eastern shores of Salt River Bay really are. Given the projections of global warming, the better portion of those wetlands will be underwater within our lifetime. The area needs serious help and, according to Dr. Torres, one of the best ways of doing this is through “limiting human exposure” to the area. Now how can we reconcile this with building a college campus complete with 100 person auditorium, outdoor amphitheater, and infusing the area with 100’s of students and support staff every year?