American Littoral Society

“The members elect the members of the governing body.”

“The annual meeting of the members of the society for the election of the trustees and other such business as may properly come before such meeting shall be held once a year within the united states at a place and time to be selected by the board of trustees. A minimum of ten days and maximum of fifty days written notice of such special meetings, stating the objectives thereof, shall be given each member at the member's last known mailing address.”

“A pdf version of form 990 is e-mailed to each member of the board of trustees prior to filing and given the opportunity to review it.”

“Each trustee, principal officer and member of a committee with board delegated powers shall annually sign a statement which affirms such person has received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy, has read and understands the policy, has agreed to comply with the policy and understands the society is a charitable organization and, in order to maintain its federal tax exemption, it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes.”

“In determining the compensation for the executive director, the board of trustees reviews the historical compensation for the position, available comparative studies for the same position in organizations of similar size and budget, our organization's budget, and the experience and capabilities of the individual.”

“In determining the compensation for the officers or key employees the board and management review the historical compensation for the position, available comparative studies for the same position in organizations of similar size and budget, our organization's budget, and the experience and capabilities of the individual.”

“The society makes available on its website form 990, form 1023, its bylaws and its audited financial statements.”

“Conservation-american littoral society restores ecologically healthy and resilient coastal habitats along the atlantic coast and the delaware bay region. The society leads thousands of volunteers in coastal cleanups of the new york state beach shoreline. We plant dunes with corporations, private groups, municipalities, and school groups to protect life, limb and property from dangerous storms. We are working to restore connectivity to coastal watersheds to improve water quality as well as provide passage for migratory fish species. The society's projects include living shorlines, a method of land stabilization that protects the shoreline from erosion while preserving, enhancing, or creating habitat. The "shuck it don't chuck it" shell recycling program was created by the society to recycle oyster shells from local restaurants. The shell is returned to the water where it provides a substrate for new oysters. Oyster shells from restaurants ordinarily ends up in landfills. Oyster reefs also provide homes for other marine life and protect shorelines. The society works with communities, homeowners, and businesses to reduce storm run-off through green storm water management and water friendly landscaping.”

“Advocacy-everything we do at the society is about the public trust. The coast belongs to all of us and our advocacy and policy program has been protecting the average person and their stake in the coast for more than 50 years. We speak out for the coast, marine life and its habitats, and for the benefit of diverse coastal communities. Our advocacy is often community based, working on the most pressing problems with the people who are most affected. We seek opportunities to provide the public with the knowledge and tools they need to raise their voices along with us. The main areas of interest where the society advocates for better public policy to protect the littoral zone are coastal public access, coastal land use reform, and natural resource protection. A grant from the william penn foundation is providing support for a study to identify water quality improvement opportunities to reduce bacteria in the 27 mile stretch of the delaware river flowing past philadelphia, camden, chester and wilmington. Working with people representing all aspects of the river's use, our goal is to develop a "road map" to increase equitable opportunities for swimming and paddling in targeted areas as well as advance community health, public access, and job creation.”

“Education-the society connects people of all ages to the coast through educational nature walks, fishing clinics, field trips, and volunteer opportunities. Our staff naturalists host public programs throughout the year including sunset seining, horseshoe crab walks, surf fishing clinics, bird walks, seal and winter waterfowl walks, and wild edible plant walks. Fish tagging-since the inception of the society's fish tagging program in 1965, more than 970,000 fish have been tagged by our volunteer taggers. Currently, the program's target species is striped bass and other fish of the littoral zone, including summer flounder, bluefish, tautog, and black seabass. The program currently has more than 450 active taggers who tag over 15,000 fish per year. Tagging is an important biological method for monitoring fish, because, unlike other animals, they spend almost all of their entire lives out of the sight of researchers. The program aids scientists too as our tagging data is transferred to the database of the national marine fisheries service laboratory.”

“Special event expenses 10,983 special event expenses -10,983”