Advisory panel asks state to protect coastal marsh hammocks

ATLANTA - The Coastal Marsh Advisory Hammock Council has issued a series of recommendations aimed at limiting development on more than 13,000 acres of the small, privately owned islands that dot the grassy wetlands of coastal Georgia. <br> <br> The General Assembly and state Department of Natural Resources must act soon to protect Georgia&#39;s fragile marsh hammocks or risk losing an irreplaceable treasure, according to a report from the committee. <br> <br> ``Anything we can do from a regulatory or policy standpoint we&#39;re going to do our best to flesh out,&#39;&#39; Commissioner of Natural Resources Lonice Barrett told the agency&#39;s board Wednesday. <br> <br> Suggestions include strengthening the Coastal Marshland Protection Act adopted by the legislature in the 1970s, and setting up new administrative regulations. <br> <br> The recommendations come more than a year after the state allowed a developer to build bridges linking a Chatham County hammock to the Emerald Pointe subdivision. <br> <br> Barrett, a member of the Coastal Marshland Protection Committee that approved the proposal, said it lacked legal ground to stop the projects. Last week, an administrative law judge upheld that decision, although the Southern Environmental Law Center plans to appeal the ruling. <br> <br> ``We don&#39;t need to have state law used in a way to develop hammocks and degrade our marshes,&#39;&#39; said Wesley Woolf, an attorney with the center. ``Something needs to be done.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hammocks are attracting developers as population growth along the coast shrinks the supply of available land. Environmental groups worry about the effects building would have on the hammocks, home to a variety of plant and animal species, as well as migratory birds. <br> <br> In the report, released this month, the panel recommends: prohibiting development on hammocks of fewer than 10 acres; establishing setback requirements for septic systems on hammocks, and taking over permitting of those systems from local health departments. <br> <br> The advisory panel also recommended acquiring the 4 percent of coastal hammocks that have no clear title of ownership. <br> <br> Barrett said the department plans to hold public hearings on the findings, then prepare proposed legislation for the General Assembly&#39;s consideration next winter.