{"id":6042,"date":"2002-12-01T12:11:00","date_gmt":"2002-12-01T17:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=6042"},"modified":"2024-11-22T13:02:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T18:02:12","slug":"lifelong-lessons-coastal-themes-resonate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/lifelong-lessons-coastal-themes-resonate\/","title":{"rendered":"LIFELONG LESSONS: Coastal Themes Resonate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Growing up on the Outer Banks, Marc Basnight learned a bit about weathering storms \u2014 like the time his mother, Cora Mae, explained about hurricanes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “When Donna came, I remember Momma taking me outside and standing in the eye as it passed over and everything was calm,” he says. “Now don’t get me wrong, she never wanted one \u2014 but she told us why the Good Lord brought hurricanes.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The storms, his mother explained, were part of the cycle of nature. “There was a reason.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It had to happen,” he recalls the lesson, one of many from his youth that resonates as he serves as president pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “It still affects me \u2014 how I look at things. If you live in a city of concrete, you vicariously experience the environment,” he says. ‘When you grow up in a coastal community, you know the value of the environment \u2014 that you need to protect these lands that are part of the food chain.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That perspective shows when Basnight calls for wastewater treatment updates, requirements that may be contested by inland officials who feel the cost would be excessive. Their arguments are “short-sighted” Basnight explains, because treated water moves from a river to an estuary and eventually into the sea. “Without the sea, there is no life,” he says. “Oceans don’t survive without the creeks, without the estuarine systems.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coastal ecosystems can feel the strain of the cumulative impact of the growth across the state. Basnight often is challenged to describe complex environmental changes in terms everyone can understand \u2014 crucial efforts in tight budget times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I have witnessed attempts to remove money for water quality projects,” says Basnight, who is credited with establishing the state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund<\/a> in 1996. The fund is the state’s only dedicated source of funding to preserve environmentally sensitive areas to ensure water quality. Such projects, he says, are not limited to the coast. “We shouldn’t have imaginary lines dividing the state,” he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite his role on natural resource issues, Basnight refuses to be labeled. “I am not an environmentalist.’ You can’t stamp me,” he says. “I come with the independence of the Outer Banks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, he says, the state can step too far, even on environmental matters. “There must be value in every regulation,” he says, pointing out the possibility that regulations may have unexpected adverse effects on individuals or communities. “The government should be flexible,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Basnight was growing up in the 1950s, the Outer Banks featured a series of quiet fishing villages with scattered cottages. Even today you can hear a bit of his “hoi toider” accent that harkens to a time when the region was isolated from the rest of North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His grandfather, Moncie Daniels, ran a general store and chaired the Dare County commissioners. His mother drew accolades as a veteran actress in “The Lost Colony<\/a>” outdoor drama. Fellow cast member Andy Griffith remains a family friend. Basnight himself had small roles as a youngster.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTides of Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n