How to Live with an Island

We now know a great deal about islands and beaches, how they evolve and how man can affect them. It seems that much of this knowledge, gained with a couple of thousand years of recorded shoreline experience doesn't permeate to the people who need it. We make a lot of mistakes today that the Dutch made 1000 years ago. Perhaps too much of our knowledge (which has taken a great leap forward during the last two decades) remains locked up in scientific and technical publications. Some people point out that when such knowledge reaches the level of application, it is highly generalized and difficult to apply to specific situations. It is for this latter reason we have written this book. We have attempted to bring to bear some of our technical understanding of shorelines and islands to a single island. We want the concerned citizen to understand the short and long range ramifications of the path of development Bogue Bank is following. We do not want the unconcerned citizen to be able to say, "How was I supposed to know?" It is also hoped that other books such as ours will follow for other islands. We came to writing this book through several paths. Orrin Pilkey, Jr., has watched Bogue development for ten years and has been distressed by the direction it is taking. Orrin Pilkey, Sr., survived Hurricane Camille and discovered why hurricane-resistant construction is a necessity for island residents. Robb Turner spent a summer living in Beaufort and became fascinated with trying to unravel the complexities of island development politics.