11-33 



Clusters of activities that require similar environmental conditions 

 but differ in environmental quality needs can be grouped as follows: 

 1) swimminq and associated shore activities, includinq picnicing and 

 camping; 2) sports fishing from shore or small boat; 3) boat-centered 

 activities, such as cruisinq or water skiing; and 4) aesthetic 

 appreciation of the total environment. 



Transport ati on and nationa l Defense 



The Nation's estuaries provide the physical, social, and economic 

 conditions required for an effective system of water terminals servinq 

 international trade and coastal shipping. According to a 1966 inven- 

 tory of ports and terminals by the Maritime Administration, there 

 were 1,626 marine terminal facilities providing deep water berths in 

 132 ports on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. The signifi- 

 cance of these Dorts and terminal facilities is indicated by the 

 1965 statistics which show that these ports handled 346,315,000 tons 

 of foreign trade cargo which was 78 percent of the U.S. foreign trade 

 total. In addition, the port facilities handled 332.1 million tons 

 1n coastal cargo and 288.2 million tons in local shipping. 



The estuarine ports also serve as essential elements of the national 

 defense system. The deep water terminals exert a significant 

 influence on the location of defense installations as well as of the 

 industrial complexes necessary for logistical sunoort of the defense 

 effort. A direct indication of the use of estuaries by naval vessels 



