seems a lesson which has to be re- 

 learned by some almost daily. 



Management and protection of 

 the coastal zone will never be sim- 

 ple because many people and many 

 diverse interests and areas are in- 

 volved. We must tie together in- 

 land river and watershed planning 

 and management to coastal planning 

 and management. 



They cannot be isolated, one 

 from the other, pretending in an 

 Alice in Wonderland World that 

 fresh water, sediments, and nutrients 

 will miraculously appear in estua- 

 ries without being carried there by 

 our streams and rivers. 



The people I work with at the 

 Department of the Interior—in the 

 Park Service, in Fish and Wildlife 

 particularly, and in the Heritage 

 Conservation and Recreation Ser- 

 vice—understand all of this inter- 

 dependence well. They understand 

 and take seriously their special 

 responsibility for our coasts. 



We oversee 115 national wild- 

 life refuges in the coastal zone and 

 they cover 7.2 million acres— more 

 than that Texas ranch. We have 40 

 national park service areas along 

 our coast, including some of our 

 most sensitive barrier islands. 



HCRS , the Heritage Conservation 

 and Recreation Service, newer and 

 less well known than Parks or Fish 

 and Wildlife— has an awesome respon- 

 sibility in working to preserve the 

 barrier islands which, of course, 

 surround many of our estuaries. 



These islands functioning in a 

 life-giving rhythm with estuaries and 

 saltwater marshes and dunes have 

 qualities unequalled and virtually 

 unparalleled. 



They are unique in their ani- 

 mal and plant life, providing a fav- 

 orable habitat not only for fish and 

 shellfish, but for reptiles, birds, 

 and mammals. 



Barrier islands provide protec- 

 tion for our mainland and recreation- 

 al activities of a special sort for 

 millions of people whose souls are 

 refreshed and whose spirits soar 

 like the osprey who nest and feed 

 nearby. 



This is but one example of in- 

 creased Federal awareness and in- 

 volvement in the environmental health 

 of our coasts. There are others. 



The responsibility to identify 

 "approximate freshwater needs" of 

 estuaries was given to the Water 

 Resources Council in 1975 and it 

 has an "independent review" func- 

 tion of all federally-funded water 

 projects. That is significant. 



Our Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 through its responsibilities in im- 

 plementing the coordination act, 

 has considered the freshwater needs 

 of estuaries in its assessments. 

 We know that there are no reserved 

 Federal water rights for estuaries, 

 but we intend to protest, or cur- 

 tail where we can, any action by 

 another Federal agency or by a 

 state agency or by individuals or 

 corporations which will result in 

 a changed ecology in our national 

 wildlife refuges or our national 

 parks along the coasts. 



Let me list several other proj- 

 ects which some of you are involved 

 in, but which all of you should be 

 aware of. 



The FWS has ongoing studies 

 in the Nueces-Corpus Christi and 

 the Matagorda Bay estuaries of the 



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