What Gets Saved? America Begins to Prioritize National Monuments

When Trish Kicklighter took over as superintendent for Assateague Island on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 2009, she noticed some differences in how things ran on the 37-mile barrier island compared to her old post in Shenandoah National Park.

For one, the park employed a coastal geologist. That geologist was one of the people who told Kicklighter that not only was the sea around Assateague Island rising, but the island itself was sinking. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Maryland estimated there was a 60 percent chance that the island would reach a tipping point and start breaking up into smaller islands.

“I doubted it would happen during my time there, but it was an opportunity for me to set the stage for future managers,” Kicklighter said.

A few months before Kicklighter left the island for another post in West Virginia, it did happen.

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Image courtesy of Doug Kerr via Flickr.

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