PART III. RECOMMENDATIONS— THE PROPOSED 



PROGRAM 



Introduction 



At present, planning and development in the estuarine zone is done 

 on an independent, piecemeal basis. The resultant losses to fish and 

 wildlife resources, the habitat upon which they depend, and the inipact 

 on recreational, scenic, esthetic qualities, and water quality itself 

 appear to be proceeding at an increasingly rapid rate. Whole sectors 

 of the public object, but economic and political pressures, particularly 

 at the local level, seem to win out and the irreparable damages to 

 estuarine and coastal regions continue. 



It is thus evident that a higher order of planning and evalution is 

 needed. The planning must be both integrated and comprehensive and 

 in the concurrent evaluation, involve all the use of the waters and the 

 adjacent lands. The impact on the total environment must be con-' 

 sidered and be paramount to single-purpose aspects. 



It is the purpose of this part of the study to recommend the progi-am 

 that will provide for the necessary planning and its implementation 

 at the various levels of government. Tliis was directed in the words of 

 Congress as follows : 



Recommendations for a comprehensive national program for the preservation, 

 study, use, and development of estuaries of the Nation, and the respective 

 responsibilities which should be assumed by Federal, State, and local govern- 

 ments and by public and private interests. 



As the study proceeded it was determined quite early that the direct 

 relationship of the coastal areas to the estuaries made it impractical 

 to attempt to consider them separately. This was true because of their 

 close proximity, their continuous influence upon each other, and be- 

 cause both are affected by the same economic and social pressures; thus 

 the recommendations that follow apply equally to the estuarine areas 

 proper and to the entire coastal zone, that overall area where the con- 

 tinent and the islands meet the sea. 



A comprehensive program for the management of the estuarine and 

 coastal zones of the Nation, must have as its primary concern the in- 

 stitutional environment, that is, the framework which includes the 

 forms of law, political institutions, and organizational mechanisms, 

 that man must use to provide himself the capability to control, de- 

 velop, and use these zones. Once this framework is established it be- 

 comes more easily possible to conduct activities designed to improve 

 the biophysical environment and the socioeconomic environment. 



What is proposed is a program that recognizes the primary re- 

 sponsibilities of the States in a management program for their estua- 

 rine and coastal areas, and on the Federal side provides for the co- 

 ordination of Federal activities in these areas and for assistance to the 

 States in their management activities. 



(41) 



