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Chapter 3 

 ROLE AND ACTIVITIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 



SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION 



The most crucial decisions on destruction and/or conservation of 

 estuaries are made at the local government level. Yet the record 

 of local government in estuarine management is disappointing. As Dr. 

 Stanley A. Cain remarked, "The authority for zoned use of the Coastal 

 Zone -- that is, its allocation to determined uses in specified places -- 

 lies v/ith local government. And local government finds itself v/eak in 

 the face of massive private economic pov/er and the public resistance 

 to increased taxes" (\/-3-l). 



Local governments' present activities, problems, and effectiveness 

 in the estuaries are discussed in this chapter, and ways in which 

 local direction and programs can share in the total national effort 

 to preserve and develop our estuaries are recommended. Particular 

 attention is given to imaginative land and water-use management 

 techniques by local agencies. 



This discussion of local governments' role is made with full recogni- 

 tion that our American Federal system is one of shared responsibilities 

 between local, State, and Federal Governments. Today there are no 

 autonomous jurisdictions or independent functions even in the relatively 

 neglected estuarine areas. Our functioning governmental system does 

 not resemble a layer cake, as a common simile has it, but, more closely 

 approximates a marble cake of joint powers and activities. Thus, rather 



