To 'Prog'

I wish to use my first post to thank Tom Horton for the inspiration that led to the name of my blog.

In his 1996 book 'An Island Out Of Time', about Smith Island on the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland, Tom wrote the following passage: ...."And among them, a transcendent few are proggers, existences webbed wonderfuly into this waterland.  Their gleanings and discoveries continually enhance and reforge the bonds between human and natural communities here...A true progger loves, above all, to roam the edges where land and water merge."

Further along, he quotes an Eastern Shore waterman who says, "Proggers just go out to see what we can see, find what we can find."

How perfectly these words describe who I am and what I do.  I am the Assateague COASTKEEPER and I am one of over 200 passionate WATERKEEPERS (of the WATERKEEPER Alliance) who speak for the waterways we are assigned to protect and defend.

I spend my days 'progging' my way around the Coastal Bays of Maryland, on a small 17' Carolina Skiff, keeping an eye out for pollution discharges, buffer clearing, construction, or marsh damage that can cause harm to the waters of Assawoman Bay, Isle of Wight Bay, St. Martin River, Herring Creek, Turville Creek, Sinepuxent Bay, Newport Bay, Chincoteague Bay and all the little creeks, guts and ditches that feed into them.

I also spend my days 'progging' my way around the halls of Worcester County government, challenging when necessary, to make sure County and State environmental laws are enforced and to ensure County policies will protect and enhance the health of our waterways and natural resources of Worcester County.

These waters can not speak for themselves.  They need a voice.  The Assateague COASTKEEPER is that voice.

So thank you Tom, for the blog name.  Thank you Assateague Coastal Trust for your support of the Coastkeeper program.  Thank you Waterkeepers everywhere around the globe for your guidance, inspiration, and dedication.

My posts, from this point on, will hopefully make residents of and visitors to Worcester County aware of what is going on - whether this is happening in public forums, in legislative forums, behind closed doors, or out in the open - waiting for a progger to come along and find it.