Interview with David Kyler, September 24, 2013

Partial Transcript: This is the Georgia Environmental Oral History Project, number six, with Dave Kyler.

Partial Transcript: Dave, you're not from Georgia. So, when did you come here, and from where did you come?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler talks about his motivation for moving to Georgia from Syracuse, New York: being offered a job as a regional planner by "what was then The Coastal Area Planning and Development Commission" in May of 1977.

Keywords: Coastal Regional Commission of Georgia; The Coastal Area Planning and Development Commission; The Coastal Commission; coastal planning; regional planning

Partial Transcript: So, tell us a little bit about that organization.

Segment Synopsis: Kyler explains the development of the "Coastal Commission" of Georgia, and the adoption of "area planning" from various municipalities. He also discusses various projects in which he and the "Development Commission" were asked to become involved, and the political interests that intersected with these projects.

Keywords: Coastal Commission; Georgia Planning Act of 1989; Georgia legislature; Sea Island Company; The Coastal Area Planning and Development Commission; The Coastal Regional Commission of Georgia; coastal development; coastal paper industry; coastal timber industry; environmental conservation; land development; water conservation; water use

Partial Transcript: In your role during those years, were you able to do anything that you felt was positive in that role?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler discusses the development of his organization, The Center for a Sustainable Coast. He talks about the relationship between commerce (specifically tourism) and coastal management of natural resources, explaining the benefits of natural ecological systems in helping "support fisheries," "control floods," "filter water," etc.

Keywords: Georgia Coastal Management Program; The Center for a Sustainable Coast; coastal resource management; natural resource management; wetland management

Partial Transcript: So, this was becoming clear to you as you were here and got educated on the issues and dealt with the issues; were other agencies beginning to see the state itself with its DNR on the coast?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler talks about other Georgia agencies and their relationship with coastal planning and issues of resource management on the coast. He discusses the tension between federal programs and planning enabled by state legislators who were concerned with federal impact on states' rights.

Keywords: American Planning Association; Georgia Coastal Management Program; Georgia Conservancy; Georgia Nature Conservancy; National Coastal Zone Management Program; The Nature Conservancy; coastal comprehensive planning; coastal tourism; environmental agencies; solid waste management; water resources

Partial Transcript: -- including, in the early days, I'll never forget this, one of the first workshops I attended after being hired in 1977 was for a federally funded program for on-shore development of support facilities for off-shore oil and gas exploration development.

Segment Synopsis: Kyler talks about attending workshops educating planners about the potential of off-shore oil and natural gas exploration development in the 1970s. He further explains the relationship between "resort communities" and the development of these oil and natural gas explorations, including the risk of "spills" and how they may affect tourism.

Keywords: Georgia Environmental Protection Division; Sea Island Company; coastal drilling; coastal environmental ethics; coastal environmental protection; coastal natural gas exploration; coastal oil exploration; coastal resort communities

Partial Transcript: Well, let's go back to the ending of your tenure at the planning agency, and then what prompted you to begin the center.

Segment Synopsis: Kyler talks on the "politics" of his experience leaving the Development Commission, and his role in developing the Center for a Sustainable Coast. He further explains the intersection of natural resource conservation and coastal planning, and the consequences of certain industries requiring large amounts of certain natural resources (specifically the paper industry and water resources).

Keywords: Coastal Regional Commission of Georgia; The Sapelo Foundation; coastal planning; natural resource conservation; paper industry; sustainability; sustainable resource use; water conservation

Partial Transcript: So with your organization, who were you attempting to influence with this idea of sustainability?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler discusses the purpose of the Center for a Sustainable Coast, and the process of educating both legislators and the public.

Keywords: Center for a Sustainable Coast; environmental ethics; sustainability

Partial Transcript: In terms of lawsuits, have you filed some?

Segment Synopsis: David Kyler talks about the lawsuits brought by his organization against the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, including the
Coastal Marshland Protection Act, the Emerald Pointe development project, and the Cumberland Harbour project.

Keywords: Center for a Sustainable Coast; Cumberland Harbour; Emerald Pointe; Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Point Peter; Southern Environmental Law Center; The Coastal Marshlands Protection Act; environmental law; marsh hammocks; marshland development; marshland hammocks; marshland protection

Partial Transcript: If you look at how your time is spent or the most effective part of what the organization has done, do you think it's these legal, pushing the envelope on some of these permit issues with the state?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler talks about the achievements of his organization, including the production of a coastal planning handbook and the "State of the Coast" project. He further discusses the impact of his organization on influential individuals in the local government and state government decisions on coastal development.

Keywords: 1st District of Georgia; Center for a Sustainable Coast; Jeff Chapman; Jekyll Island; State of the Coast; coastal preservation; coastal sustainability

Partial Transcript: In terms of going forward in this area of the coast, the different nonprofits that exist and their various causes, be it Glynn Environmental or Georgia Conservancy, and apparently there's a new group that's getting started, what's your sense of how that's all going to fall out as time goes forward?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler explains the purpose and efficacy of his organization, as well as the development of other nonprofit organizations and movements both nationally and within the state, including the Altamaha Riverkeeper, Save Georgia's Coast, and One Hundred Miles.

Keywords: Center for a Sustainable Coast; One Hundred Miles; R. Howard Dobbs Foundation; Save Georgia's Coast; Southern Environmental Law Center; The Altamaha Riverkeeper; Waterkeeper Alliance; coastal environmental nonprofits; coastal environmental protection; environmental activism; environmental nonprofits

Partial Transcript: There's still a lot of hard feelings about the Georgia Conservancy among the environmental community in the state.

Segment Synopsis: Kyler discusses the political relationship between Georgia Power and its influence on the Georgia Conservancy.

Keywords: Georgia Conservancy; Georgia Power; Pierre Howard; coastal resources

Partial Transcript: I wondered if you had any questions, Christian, or Callie?

Segment Synopsis: Kyler discusses the many sides of the Jekyll Island "65/35 Law," concerning the land structure of the island and the definition of the law itself.

Keywords: 65-35 Rule; 65/35 Rule; Jekyll Island; Jekyll land use; marshland protection; tidal wetlands

Partial Transcript: Well, our time is coming to an end here.