Management of the Coastal Zone 



49 



The coast of the United States is, in many 

 respects, the Nation's most vakiable geo- 

 graphic feature. It is at the jiincture of the 

 land and sea that the greater part of this 

 Nation's trade and industry takes place. The 

 waters off the shore are among the most bio- 

 logically productive regions of the Nation. 



The uses of valuable coastal areas generate 

 issues of intense State and local interest, but 

 the effectiveness with which the resources of 

 the coastal zone are used and protected often 

 is a matter of national importance. Na\'i- 

 gation and military uses of the coasts and 

 waters offshore clearly are direct Federal 

 responsibilities; economic development, rec- 

 reation, and conservation interests are sliared 

 by the Federal Government and the States. 



Rapidly intensifying use of coastal areas 

 already has outrun the capabilities of local 

 governments to plan their orderly develop- 

 ment and to resolve conflicts. The division of 

 responsibilities among the several levels of 

 government is unclear, and the knowledge 

 and procedures for formulating sound deci- 

 sions are lacking. 



The key to more effex'tive use of our coast- 

 land is the introduction of a management 

 system ijermitting conscious and informed 

 choices among development alternatives, pro- 

 viding for proper planning, aiul encouraging 

 recognition of tlie long-tenn importance of 

 maintaining the quality of this productive 

 region in order to ensure both its enjoyment 

 and the sound utilization of its resources. The 

 benefits and the problems of achieving ra- 

 tional management are apparent. The present 

 Federal, State, and local macliinery is inade- 

 quate. Something must be done. 



The Nature of the Coastal Zone 



The U.S. Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic 

 coastlines total SS^fi.S.S miles, and there are 

 10,980 miles of U.S. coast bordering the Great 

 Lakes. There are wide physical diversities — 



The Nation must recnpnizr thr long- 

 term importance of maintaininfj 

 the qunlit]! of its roastlands, like 

 the Cape Cnti Xational fieashore. 

 in order to insure ioth their enjoy- 



rugged shorelines with many indentations, 

 offshore islands and rocks, and smooth coast- 

 lines with few offshore features. Sandy 

 teaches, rocky headlands, or marshlands may 

 be found along the shore, and water depths 

 may slope gently from the shoreline or de- 

 cline precipitously. 



The zone is a region of transition between 

 the land and the sea. Such activities as urban 

 development, pollution of streams, and main- 

 tenance of recreation areas may affect the 

 coastal area. Similarly, commercial fishing, 

 shipping, and ocean pollution also may in- 

 fluence the coastal zone's usage. Finally, there 

 are numerous activities within the zone itself 

 such as .ghellfishing, pleasure boating, offshore 

 oil production, and sand and gravel dredging. 

 Tlie coastal zone management system must, 

 therefore, grapple with a great diversity of 

 related and other conflicting activities. 



Oceanic Zones under International Law 



The Commission in this report distin- 

 guishes between the internal waters and ter- 

 ritorial sea of a nation, the high seas, the con- 

 tiguous zone, the continental shelf, and the 

 bed and subsoil of the deep seas — that is, the 

 high seas beyond the continental shelf. These 

 global areas are prescribed by existing inter- 

 national law of the sea and have no precise 

 geographic references. It is important also to 

 differentiate between the rights of the United 

 States in each of these areas ris-a-ris all other 

 nations of the world and the division of au- 

 thority between the Federal Government and 

 the coastal States of the United States in 

 areas acknowledged to be within the Nation's 

 jurisdiction. 

 Internal Waters and the Territorial Sea 



Under the International Convention on the 

 Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 

 each nation's sovereignty extends beyond its 

 land territory "to a belt of sea adjacent to its 

 coast, described as the territorial sea" and "to 



