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for the initial program coordination of tlie State's coastal effort which will 

 mesh together the estnarine activities of eight State agencies into one united 

 endeavor through the Interagency Natural Resources Council. 



Program Guideline for a Comprehensive Coastal Resources Plan for the 

 Texas Gulp Coast Region 



(Prepared by the Interagency Natural Resources Council, Hon. Preston Smith, 

 Chairman, Governor of Texas) 



Introdicction 



The objective of the comprehensive Coastal Resources Plan is to provide for 

 the management and development of the human and natural resources of the 

 urbanizing Texas Gulf Coast Region. 



Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 38 directs that the coastal areas of the State 

 are to be delineated and developed in a manner that maintains a determined bal- 

 ance between the need to protect and to conserve the natural resources and the 

 natural beauty of these areas and the need to develop these riches to further the 

 growth and prosperity of Texas. The Resolution authorizes the Interagency Nat- 

 ural Resources Council to initiate the Coastal Resources Plan for the Texas Gulf 

 Coast Region. This cooperative interagency effort in planning the development 

 of this entire region is without precedent in Texas State government and will be 

 conducted as a continuous program. 



The Plan focuses on a broad ribbon of land and sea from Louisiana to the 

 border of Mexico consisting of bays, estuaries, submerged lands, beaches, and 

 the adjacent and contiguous lands. This area is approximately 60 miles wide, and 

 includes the State-owned tidelands extending out to the IOV2 mile seaward limit, 

 the land area to an average of about 50 miles inland which includes the first tier 

 of counties, and other areas important to certain large bays and estuaries, such 

 as Harris County. The extent of the planning area is subject to revision as devel- 

 opments may indicate. 



While a major part of the dryland coastal areas are under private ownership, 

 a great portion of the submerged coastal lands, commonly known as the tidelands, 

 belong to the people of Texas, and these lands are held in trust for them by the 

 State. This fact places a unique responsibility on the State of Texas to insure that 

 the four and one-half million acres comprising the coastal public domain of 

 Texas are properly managed and developed, while fully respecting, at the time, 

 the rights of private ownership of some of the lands and resourcs in the coastal 

 area. 



Tlie State has a general and overriding responsibility for providing the plan- 

 ning and guidance necessary for the desirable use of the great wealth of natural 

 resources of this region in a manner compatible with the common good and 

 consistent with the tenets of our form of government. The formulation of the 

 legislation needed for this purpose wall be a major endeavor of the coastal plan- 

 ning program. 



Interagency Natural Resources Council 



The 60th Legislature, to foster the coordination of State long-range planning 

 and functional activities at all levels of operation, designated the Governor as the 

 Chief Planning Officer of the State and established a Division of Planning Co- 

 ordination within the Governor's Office. The Legislature also provided for the 

 creation of interagency planning councils chaired by the Governor and composed 

 of the executive directors of the participating member agencies. 



The Governor has thus created the Interagency Natural Resources Council to 

 give attention to the interagency coordination necessary for the unified develop- 

 ment of Texas water, parks and environmental quality programs. Underlying 

 these actions was the conviction that State government must continue its primary 

 responsibility for the conservation and management of its natural resources. 



The present members of the Council are : 



Office of the Governor Texas Soil and Water Conservation 



General Land Office Board 



Texas Air Control Board Texas Water Quality Board 



Texas Industrial Commission Texas Water Development Board 



Texas Railroad Commission Texas Water Rights Commission 



Texas Highway Department Ex officio members 



Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 



