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the Federal level, devise management plans which properly would 

 anticipate the use that each acre of land should be devoted to over 

 the years ahead, so that the Federal Government needs to be ruled 

 out as being- the primary responsible agency in management of coastal 

 areas. We certainly recognize this in the Department of the Interior. 



The choice therefore really becomes one of whether you leave respon- 

 sibility to the States, or to their subdivisions, the towns and cities, 

 which I will refer to as the localities. 



The localities, I would suggest, are not suitable for exercising these 

 functions. It has been fairly widely recognized that localities suffer 

 from dejficiencies of not having strong staffs, skilled people to deal 

 with some of the complex problems. Also, of course, they are subject 

 to local political and economic pressures, and they are extremely con- 

 cerned with development of their individual tax bases of assessable 

 property within the town limits. 



These considerations, however, I would suggest, overlook the princi- 

 pal difficulty with leaving responsibility at the local level, which is 

 that good planning from this time forth needs to encompass a range 

 of vision beyond town limits. 



There is k necessity for looking at a coastline that may be 50 miles 

 in length, or 100 miles in length, or, hopefully, even of a greater 

 length, and picking out areas within the coastline which will be 

 devoted to one use or another. 



We recognize that some of the uses for coastal areas are consistent 

 with other uses. Others are not compatible with other uses, and there- 

 fore certain ones need to be established which will be devoted to indus- 

 trial uses or recreational uses, preservation of marine habitats, or 

 what-have-you. 



But it will not be satisfactory if we allow development to occur 

 on a patchwork, "crazy quilt" basis in which one parcel of land is used 

 for one use, and the immediately adjoining parcel used for an incom- 

 patible use. 



Development cannot be done well on a local basis. 



In this connection, I would call your attention to a statement on page 

 G5 of the Stratton Commission report, which states that, "* * * the 

 maintenance of a major port in every major coastal city is no longer 

 justified." 



This is just one indication of the type of problem we have, but in 

 getting good planning for the overall needs, it is necessary to consider 

 what areas will be devoted primarily to one use or another. 



I would next turn to the question of planning for competing uses, 

 tind here I simply want to make the point that I believe good planning 

 m_ust face up to the fact that different uses have different priorities, 

 and that we cannot assume that every use should be given equal treat- 

 ment. The resources available to meet the national needs are not 

 proportional to the needs themselves. 



For one example, at least in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States, 

 we recognize that there is a developing shortage of suitable sites for 

 electric power .<jenerating units. Areas which present good sites for 

 that use may in some instances need to be preserved for that use, 

 even thou q-h there are other uses which are present, and certain people 

 """ "'^xioii? to devote the sites to such other uses. 



