MARINE RECREATION 



Millions of people travel to our Nation's ocean shores annually to en- 

 joy a wide variety of recreational opportunities. DOI's NPS and FWS 

 manage shorelands that are dedicated entirely, or in part, to recreational 

 purposes. NPS and Wildlife Refuge Systems and comparable lands 

 under jurisdiction of State and local governments offer the public access 

 to many of the most popular shoreline attractions. Because of population 

 growth, greater affluence, and more leisure time, demands on these 

 areas have increased to the point where many have become crowded 

 and thus less attractive for recreation. This, in turn, has led to a rising 

 national interest in conserving and improving recreational resources. 



NPS and FWS, in cooperation with BOR, conduct and support social 

 science research that may be applied at all levels of government and the 

 public interest to develop and improve the use of recreational oppor- 

 tunities in the coastal zone. The work includes research associated with 

 planning for the acquisition and development of additional public parks 

 and refuges in shoreland areas, partly through allocations from the Land 

 and Water Conservation Fund administered by BOR. 



NPS has established cooperative research units at universities 

 throughout the country. Marine-related sociological studies have been 

 undertaken by such units as the City University of New York, and the 

 University of Washington. The studies conducted by these units in- 

 cluded a forecast of visitor requirements and social behavior on beaches 

 and in wetland areas; surveys of marine recreation areas; studies of 

 marine recreation available to the handicapped in national and state 

 parks; and an assessment of the impact of Fire Island National Seashore 

 operations on nearby businesses, land uses, and other local activities. 



NPS also conducts and supports research in archaeology and history 

 to enhance park system interpretive and educational programs and to 

 fulfill NPS responsibilities for the preservation of antiquities and other 

 cultural resources of the United States and its territories. Much of this 

 research is undertaken in cooperation with local societies and other in- 

 terested groups and individuals. The Nation's Bicenntennial Celebra- 

 tion, in which NPS had a lead role, has offered a recent stimulus to the 

 efforts. 



The collection of marine-related archaelogical and historical data 

 commonly utilizes both social research and technical surveys. An exam- 

 ple of the former was the improvement of interpretive programs at the 

 Salem Maritime Historic Site. Technical surveys have included the use 

 of satellite and aircraft remote-sensing surveys to aid in identifying 

 historic shipwrecks off the Gulf Islands National Seashore, adjacent to 

 Fort Jefferson National Monument and Biscayne Bay National Monu- 

 ment. In other technical surveys, scuba divers were employed to obtain 

 data in waters adjacent to Biscayne Bay National Monument, Virgin Is- 



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