GEOH-008. James Holland interviewed by Betsy Bean. September 24, 2013.
James Holland interviewed by Betsy Bean. James Holland discusses his early life, his service in the military, and moving to Brunswick in 1978. He talks about his commercial blue crab fishing operation and the evolution of the crabbing industry. Holland talks about how the declining crab population affected his personal finances and how this inspired him to become involved in environmental efforts. Holland discusses the increasing salinity of fresh waters and various diseases and organisms that affect the crab population.
Holland discusses the gender divide in the environmental movement and forming alliances with various organizations. He discusses the forming of the Altamaha Riverkeeper organization in 1998-99 and lawsuits filed by the organization. Holland discusses the role of the Riverkeeper and the work he did investigating reports in the field during his time as Riverkeeper. He talks about the State River Basin Management Plan and the Soil and Water Conservation Service.
Holland also discusses the reputation of the Riverkeeper (and other environmental groups) among other fisherman. He talks about problems with local permit issuing authorities and possible corruption in government agencies. He talks about his relationship with scientists and various specific local environmental issues such as marsh buffers and fresh water impoundment on Little St. Simons Island.
For more information, please see the Russell Library Finding Aid for the Georgia Environmental Oral History Collection:
http://purl.libs.uga.edu/russell/RBRL345GEOH/findingaid