Hi everyone - See the note below...the US Fish & Wildlife Service is considering some shoreline pole removal for AT&T's WOO shore-to-ship transmitter site in New Jersey; this site was also used for VOA broadcasts from 1944 onward.
Public comment is invited; see the link down near the bottom of the message.. Also - we should have an update on the 2016 Fest information within the next week; watch this space! Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Cultural Resources, FW5 <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 3:12 PM Subject: Public comments sought for anticipated adverse effect on historic properties To: [email protected] Dear North American Shortwave Association: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes a pole removal project in the tidal marshlands of the Good Luck Point (Ocean Gate) and Manahawkin units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Ocean County, New Jersey. The undertaking will contribute to saltmarsh enhancement funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. The proposal is for hundreds of poles to be removed, in addition to cables, wires, metal towers, and concrete blocks. The goal of this action is to enhance coastal marsh habitats by increasing marsh resiliency from impacts of large storm events and other ecosystem stressors. The poles are part of inactive shortwave antenna fields associated with AT&T’s ship-to-shore shortwave communications system, which was in operation at the sites from the early 1930s until 1999. The wires connecting the antenna poles were removed by AT&T prior to the creation of the National Wildlife Refuge units. Good Luck Point in Berkeley Township, Ocean County includes a shortwave transmitter building and antenna field. The municipality owns the shuttered building, while the poles of the inactive antenna field are on Refuge land. Under the call sign WOO, the shortwave facility at Good Luck Point (known as Ocean Gate) was a renowned transmitting station, which helped broadcast Voice of America around the globe after 1944 and enabled communication with ships at sea throughout the twentieth century. The historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 340 wooden poles from the inactive antenna field, along with several metal antennae. Manahawkin in Stafford Township, Ocean County includes the WOO companion site, which consists of a shortwave receiving station and antenna field. Via Manahawkin, shortwave communications from ships at sea were linked to America’s telephone network from the 1930s until 1999. The entire Refuge unit is within a conservation easement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which does not own the building. The historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 113 wooden poles from the antenna field. Several metal antennas will be removed, as well. Because both of the historic properties represent well-preserved examples of nationally significant shortwave facilities, they have been determined eligible for National Register listing. Consequently, the proposed removal of poles from the antenna fields will cause an adverse effect under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. A mitigation program is being developed in consultation with the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office. In accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeks public comment on the anticipated adverse effect. The public is invited to submit comments concerning the project’s effects on the historic properties to [email protected] . The public comment period ends on November 15, 2015. Additional information is available via this Web link: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/edwin_b_forsythe/ Thank you for your interest. -- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Cultural Resources Program Division of Refuge Field Support Northeast Regional Office 300 Westgate Center Drive Hadley, MA 01035-9589 _______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
