David Johnson, award winning environmental crusader, formed The Coastal Steward in May 2005.

The Coastal Steward’s focus is environmental restoration. Johnson is very excited about the Adopt-A-Beach program.  According to Johnson, “The Coastal Steward program is needed, and it's time has come.”

Anyone can get involved in the Adopt-A-Beach or the Sponsor-A-Beach programs. Individuals, businesses, civic organizations and government agencies can all sponsor or adopt a beach. Beach cleanups generally cover up to a half a mile of beach by fifty feet and and are scheduled depending on breeding seasons, weather, tides and other factors.

Johnson has a long record of implementing successful environmental initiatives. He has organized the Port Jefferson Harbor Annual Beach Cleanup since 1989 and is responsible for removing over 309 tons of debris from the harbor and Long Island beaches including the Long Island Sound. (make Long Island in blue). He has also initiated and directs a shellfish restoration project since 2000 and is responsible for releasing over 302,400 adult shellfish into Port Jefferson and Mt. Sinai Harbors.

I love to say “Together We Make a Difference” and to prove my point here are some facts and new records we are setting this season. On April 14th we had our first major beach cleanup on Long Island Sound at Miller Place. We set a new record for the most volume, weight and number of syringes removed on a single beach cleanup. 94 volunteers removed 18.09 tons of debris from a half a mile of beach, filling two 30 yard and one 20 yard roll-off dumpsters, we also found 25 syringes (which included the 15 we found while preparing for the cleanup on the 7th). Then on April 21st, we had our second major beach cleanup at Mt. Sinai Harbor, on the Port Jefferson side and 54 volunteers removed 1.5 tons from a half a mile of beach. At this pace we should break the standing record of 31.4 tons of debris removed in a single season. The following are the numbers on the data we collected so far this season:

7 Beach Cleanups
159 Volunteers
19.59 Tons of Debris Removed
573 Bio Discs Removed
208 Drug Bags Removed
43 Syringes Removed

On May 5th we need all the help we can get down at Mt. Sinai Harbor where we are doing our Shellfish Restoration Program at the Town of Brookhaven Parks Dept facility from 9 am to at least 3 pm. We will be bringing up 42 racks of oysters containing approximately 300,000 adult oysters and then we will be releasing them into Port Jefferson and Mt. Sinai Harbors. We will also be preparing to raise 15 million more oysters, so we really need some help.

We also need volunteers for the next major beach cleanup on May 12th at Port Jefferson Harbor and we will also have a booth at the Maritime Festival being held the same day in Port Jefferson. Then on May 26th we have another major beach cleanup at Port Jefferson Harbor at the end of St. Orchard Rd., Belle Terre. Other opportunities to volunteer are at the West Marine Memorial Day tent sale in West Islip from 10 am to 6 pm, were they are sponsoring the Coastal Steward with 5% of the days sales.

There are two new members on our Board of Directors and they are David Chase who teaches at Mt. Sinai School District and Judy Sochinski.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact me, Dave Johnson at 516 946-6560 or coastalsteward@optonline.net. See you at our events.