Island communities and ecosystems require balance and participation

By Linda Nelson

Ask not only what your community can do for you, but what actions you can take to build community resilience.

Paraphrasing President Kennedy’s great, 60-year-old challenge to us as a nation is at the heart of the Town of Stonington’s Talk of the Towns series of public conversations on issues that bridge, matter to, and unite our coastal communities. And after 10 of these events over the past two years, we’ve better illuminated our challenging pathways toward island resilience.

Taking local action to build local reserves, infrastructure, and skills to thrive year-round has only become more important as federal policies and funding shift away from community needs.

The more than 70 attendees of the recent Resilience Roundtable generated several key and actionable ideas we might take. This diverse group of participants included year-round and seasonal residents of island and peninsula communities, as well as people representing our health care systems and services; municipal and public services; schools; fisheries; housing and land trust organizations; and year-round and seasonal businesses. The spacious second floor of the Town Hall allowed us to join together in a giant circle so that everyone could have a voice, see each other, listen and learn.

Brenda Zollitsch and Sandlin Preecs of the Muskie School of Public Policy at USM facilitated. In response to their questions, many said that what is needed is an island-wide Deer Isle-Stonington “regional” plan, particularly around drinking water but also in regard to housing and year-round business. Others pointed out the possibilities of new federal funding opportunities for such a plan. Still others requested more encouragement and support for the schools and Project Launch to advance a K-12 island resiliency education and experience component.  

The gathering made clear that Maine’s rural, coastal fishing communities have the building blocks, character, and opportunities to be resilient and sustainable. At the same time, external forces such as fishing regulations, health care, education, and property values pose threats.

Dr. Michael Murnik of Northern Light Health in Blue Hill and the island’s retired dentist, Dr. Wendy Alpaugh, used the roundtable to affirm their commitments to island health care and noted it has become increasingly challenging to attract the skilled labor needed to sustain it well.

“Everything is interrelated,” Dr. Alpaugh said, and added in a follow up note that, “It’s hard to be proactive in all areas…Qualified staffing would ideally come from students from the island who wanted to stay here after becoming licensed in areas of health care such as dental hygiene, dentistry, [and] lab management.”

Dr. Murnik added that, “Good schools, water, housing, and resources will make recruitment and retention possible.”   

Overall, the conversations strongly acknowledged that year-round resilience for our island community ecosystems–human, economic, natural–is a delicate balance that both our actions and inaction impact.

For example, as waters warm and species change, our fishing community needs a plan that shows community support for and belief in our ability to gain new or to bring back lost access to fisheries and other ocean, or “blue economy,” resources.

Another example is the balance we need to strike, in terms of the impacts on our drinking water supplies and other resources, between seasonal tourism and year-round economic and community development.

And finally, as Dr. Alpaugh again noted using health care as an analogy for general resilience: “Crisis management does not work in any system. Health care requires constant preventive maintenance. Emergency care means a setback. Usually the result will be more costly and less ideal than what was previously in place.”

Recent national studies have shown it costs communities 13 times as much to rebuild infrastructure lost to natural disasters as it does to invest in resilient infrastructure to begin with.

Although both our human and financial resources are limited, depending greatly on the generosity of volunteers and donors, the Town of Stonington does its best to work in all these identified areas, from revising land use ordinances to identifying and implementing additional water and housing resources.

Stonington has joined with Deer Isle on an Interlocal Housing Task Force and an Interlocal Transportation Committee. Our Economic Development Committee has subcommittees focused on the three pillars of our Economic Resiliency Strategy: infrastructure, the marine/blue economy, and business supports to retain, attract, and educate a year-round population and workforce, ensuring a quality of life desirable to people wanting to live, work and play here.

After listening to those gathered, Jim Damicis, an economic analyst and consultant from Camoin Associates, noted, “The biggest common denominator for what makes a community resilient is communication and relationships. Stonington is doing well at this, and Talk of the Towns is a great example. All of this needs to continue.” He stated that meaningful community engagement is an asset to build on.

What role can you play in meeting needs for community resilience? Do you have a story to share, that makes you proud, of a time when the island or your local community overcame a significant challenge? How are you willing to help to ensure we keep our year-round fishing community for generations to come? Can you build an accessory dwelling unit or install a tiny house for a working family? With appropriate supports, could you convert a seasonal into a year-round rental? Be in touch via email at econdev@stoningtonmaine.org, by stopping by the Stonington town office, or by calling 207-367-2351.

–Nelson is the Economic & Community Development Director for the town of Stonington.