PREFACE 



A session on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Coastal Ecological 

 Characterization Studies was held on 3 October 1977 at the Fourth Biennial 

 International Estuarine Research Conference in Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania, to 

 highlight the important components of the characterization process. 



The papers in this report are those presented at the session, with two 

 exceptions. First, the paper entitled Interim Hierarchical Regional Classifica- 

 tion Scheme for Coastal Ecosystems of the United States and its Territories 

 is not included and may be secured from the author— Terry T. Terrell, U. S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services, Room 206, Federal 

 Building, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. Secondly, papers entitled The Con- 

 struction of a Conceptual Model of the Chcnier Plain Coastal Ecosystem in 

 Texas and Louisiana and Maine Coast Characterization User's Guide are 

 included in the proceedings. The first paper summarizes the modeling effort 

 for the first coastal characterization study— Chenier Plain of Southwest 

 Louisiana and Southeast Texas; while the second paper describes how a user 

 would utilize products from the Maine characterization study. 



Funding for the initial characterization studies was provided through the 

 Interagency Energy/Environment Research and Development Program which 

 is planned and coordinated by the Office of Energy, Minerals, and Industry 

 within the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and 

 Development. Inaugurated in fiscal year 1975, this program brings together 

 the coordinated efforts of 77 Federal agencies and departments. The goal of 

 the Program is to assure that both environmental data and control tech- 

 nology are available to support the rapid development of domestic energy 

 resources in an environmentally acceptable manner. 



Any suggestions or questions regarding this publication should be direc- 

 ted to: 



Information Transfer Specialist 

 National Coastal Ecosystems Team 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 National Space Technology Laboratories 

 NSTL Station, Miss. 39529 



This report should be cited as follows: 



Johnston, J. B. and L. A. Barclay, eds. Contributed papers on coastal 

 ecological characterization studies, presented at the Fourth Biennial Inter- 

 national Estuarine Research Conference, Mt. Pocono, Pa., 2-5 October 1977. 

 Office of Biological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildhfe Service. FWS/OBS- 

 77/37. 66 pp. 



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