III-5 



(1) The pressures of population growth and economic 

 development, including requirements for industrial, com- 

 mercial, residential development, recreation, exploitation 

 of mineral resources, and fossil fuels, transportation and 

 other navigation, waste disposal, and exploitation of fish 

 and other living marine resources, impose an increasing 

 number of conflicting demands upon the finite resources 



of the coastal zone. 



(2) Estuaries, marshlands, and other parts of the coastal 

 zone contain extremely valuable habitat for fish and 

 wildlife which move beyond State boundaries; such areas 

 are vital to the life support of a major part of the 

 Nation's commercial and sport fisheries harvest; such 

 areas, particularly the estuaries, constitute ecological 

 systems which are susceptible to destruction and disruption 

 by man. 



(3) Continued unplanned or uncoordinated development 

 activities in the coastal zone pose an immediate threat 

 of irreversible harm to the coastal zone and its resources 

 and a loss of the benefits it offers. 



(4) The coastal zone is a valuable area for multiple 

 economic, recreational, and resource uses. 



(5) The interest in the coastal zone extends to the 

 citizens of all the States, and is not limited to the 

 citizens in the coastal States. 



