ASSATEAGUE COASTAL TRUST
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ACT protects the coastal watershed from polluters, advocating for clean water and healthy communities.
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Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT) was first established as The Committee to Preserve Assateague Island. The catalyst for the creation of this all-volunteer, the grassroots group was the introduction of legislation that established Assateague Island National Seashore, including a provision that would have allowed a significant portion of the island to be developed as a resort, destroying the unspoiled beauty of the island.
As the founding chairperson of the Committee, Judith Johnson began her campaign with little direct experience in politics or science. In fact, her most recent position had been managing the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra where she was the first woman in the country to serve in such a role.
Johnson began her activism at the behest of her young son, Reid, after they took a trip to Assateague together in the 1960s. He remembers her reaction on learning of plans to “improve” the pristine barrier island with a thirty-mile highway, a 14,000-car parking lot, motels, and fast-food restaurants. “This is horrible. This is wrong,” he recalls his mother declaring. “Someone has to stop this.” She did. The Committee fought to eliminate that provision, and the island’s pristine landscape today is a testament to its success and the crucible for ACT’s ongoing commitment to protecting our coastal environment.
Together with Mrs. Johnson, Ilia Fehrer was also a leading figure on the Committee to Preserve Assateague Island. Her tireless efforts, including testimony before Congress, were instrumental in the successful campaign to save the Island. Her legacy includes Assateague Island’s state and national parks, the designation of the Pocomoke as a “wild and scenic river,” the Nassawango Creek Preserve, and the Worcester County rural legacy area. She battled offshore waste incineration, the building of an industrial park near Ocean City, and the needless destruction of acres of wetlands and forests. Every New Year’s Day, Mrs. Fehrer led a nature walk on Assateague Island, a tradition that ACT honors to this day with our annual Ilia Fehrer & Judith Johnson Memorial Beach Walk.