V-51 



rather rapid rate. Unplanned and unrequlated alteration and 

 modification of the area mostly as the result of activities by 

 the private sector continues with a consequent loss of wildlife 

 habitat and a decreasing availability of open space for public use. 

 The cause is in part rapid urban and suburban development, heavy 

 industrial growth and increased population. Development in the 

 estuaries is necessary and will continue, but it should be done 

 in a planned and regulated way designed to provide the most bene- 

 ficial use. To do so, integrated and coordinated management and 

 planning is needed. This will require more technical assistance 

 of all kinds, more knowledge to be gathered through research and 

 data collection. Not in the least, it will require more effective 

 use of current programs and authorities. This simply means more 

 money and more people. As has been pointed out before in this 

 chapter, the Corps of Engineers does not have the overall facil- 

 ities and personnel to administer its permit program in the most 

 effective manner. In cooperation with the States, land acquisit- 

 ion by the Federal Government directly and through grants-in-aid 

 programs proceeds at too slow a pace. There is in particular no 

 grant-in-aid program which concentrates its activities in the 

 estuarine zone and which could assist the States in developing 

 that type of State organization that could prepare and implement 

 an integrated and comprehensive plan for its overall estuarine zone. 



Coordination 



In terms of coordination it is relatively easy to point out that 



