LAND ACQUISITION AS A RESTORATION ALTERNATIVE: AN EXAMPLE FROM THE BARGE BERMAN OIL SPILL IN PUERTO RICO

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Morris J Berman oil spill was a large and significant spill occurring at the height of the tourist season in San Juan, Puerto Rico in January 1994. Two major categories of injury were compensated through a single land acquisition project. Restoration for lost recreational beach use was wholly compensated with the land acquisition project. The eolianite reef injury was mostly satisfied by the same land acquisition restoration project, but with the addition of two other restoration projects. Creating new recreational beach use opportunities by acquiring privately owned coastal habitat was a natural choice for restoration. Demonstrating the resource service link between a variety of coastal habitats and eolianite habitat was more challenging. The Trustee Council undertook a Habitat Suitability Analysis to demonstrate this service linkage. The Habitat Suitability Analysis (HSA) showed that habitats different from eolianite reef, including seagrass, mangroves and shallow hard-bottom, could provide habitat services to biota that rely upon eoliniate habitat for some part of their life cycle. The land acquired contained a variety of coastal habitats including mangroves, herbaceous wetlands, the mouths of two coastal rivers, the Sabana and Pitahaya Rivers, and reef communities immediately offshore. Additionally, the beach habitat on the parcel was identified in both the Leatherback and Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Plans as being important conservation targets thus increasing their ecological importance. After selecting land acquisition as a restoration alternative, the need to identify a seasoned land acquisition partner was apparent given the intense demand and competition for a limited resource such as coastal land in Puerto Rico. Finding the right partner to assist in land acquisition, as well as engaging the public early were key elements in the success of this restoration alternative. Strategies and recommendations for other Trustees considering land acquisition as a restoration alternative are explored as well as the pitfalls and lessons learned.