I created this four-panel brochure for Delaware's Center for the Inland
Bays. This job included interviewing staff members, researching background
information, writing all text, and gathering photos and art. I then designed
and paginated the brochure, using Quark Xpress and Adobe Photoshop. All
the scenics on the page at left are from my photo files. Below is the brochure's
inside page. Below that is the text of "Why we have the Center for the
Inland Bays" at left.
Why we have the Center for the Inland Bays"One must cultivate a loving relationship with Mother Earth to be considered a true human being. That relationship should include respect, reverence and care; it must acknowledge that every inch of her is sacred and irreplaceable, and that all things upon her are connected."
-- Charles Clark IV, assistant chief of the Nanticoke Indian tribe
The original inhabitants of Delaware's Inland Bays region were aware of how human actions affect the environment, but it wasn't until 1969, when Gov. Russell Peterson commissioned a study of Delaware's Inland Bays, that modern inhabitants started to wrestle with the problems facing these broad and shallow waterways.Some of the problems that were evident -- habitat loss because of rapid development, nutrient runoff from farmland, pollution from sewage plants and septic tanks -- continued to degrade water quality in the bays over the years, despite the efforts of numerous task forces, commissions and other formal and informal groups.
Then, in 1988, because of Gov. Michael Castle's efforts, the Inland Bays were designated part of the National Estuary Program, which brought greater attention on the problems facing the bays. Hundreds of citizens and officials came together to search for solutions, and the result, after six years of work, was the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.
This plan, a detailed collection of strategies designed to improve water quality, established the Center for the Inland Bays to oversee their implementation, and to develop long-term approaches to preserve the watershed. The Center, headquartered in the watershed, has developed four major missions to guide its efforts: research, education, restoration, and public policy.
These missions have no end -- they are ongoing, always evolving, as those who care about the health of the Inland Bays continue to work toward a better understanding of the simple truths about our environment, as expressed here by assistant chief Clark:
"Mother Earth is a living, breathing creature composed and formed like us. The land is her skin, draped over her rock and stone bones; the trees and grasses are her hair. Wind and breeze are our Motherís breath; the ocean and waters are her blood. As with us, her life-force is in constant motion and every drop is precious."