Chapter I 



A NEW EMPHASIS 



The decade of the 1960's saw a Federal Ocean Program born, given 

 direction, and set in motion toward solving the problems and exploring the 

 unknowns which tie man to the global ocean and to its rich and varied life 

 forms. Now, two years into the decade of the 1970's, we find this national 

 oceanic efTort confronted by certain specific and pressing concerns which link 

 human life and the natural world. A new emphasis pervades the record of 

 Federal activities related to marine resources, environment, and ocean- 

 looking science and technology — an emphasis that balances environmental 

 imperatives with our demand for development in the marine environment. 



This concern with the quality of life and environment necessarily influ- 

 ences the ways in which America approaches the marine science goals set 

 forth in the Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 1966. 

 Our ocean effort has become one in which development and conservation 

 are balanced for the national benefit. The concept of a fragile natural world 

 has become a major element among our conceptions of the sea and its 

 resources. 



The 1970's will be the decade in which we test how well we can resolve 

 our differences with nature while still enjoying its bounty of resources. With 

 an increasingly informed view of the consequences which follow human 

 action, the Federal Government has moved in the past several years to meet 

 the crucial need for a balanced approach to our physical environment — its 

 resources and its life. The creation in 1970 of the Council on Environmental 

 Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , and the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 (NOAA) marked the necessary first steps. The year 1971 gave these new 

 agencies and their partners* in the Federal Ocean Program increasing op- 

 portunities to turn elements of national necessity into projects, hardware, 

 and accomplishments. The President's budget for Fiscal Year 1973 provides 

 funds that amplify these opportunities, particularly in terms of the new 

 emphasis. 



*The Departments of Commerce, Defense, Health, Education, and Welfare, the 

 Interior, State, and Transportation; the Atomic Energy Commission; National 

 Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; and Smith- 

 sonian Institution. 



The dramatic confrontation of land and ocean along the rugged coast of Oregon 

 suggests the challenge, problems, and opportunities of the Nation's effort to 

 comprehend, conserve, and use the sea. 



