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available technology. Gold and platinum metals exist in submerged 

 beach and placer deposits off Alaska, California, and Oregon but it is 

 unlikely that mining will be undertaken for them in the near future. 

 Diamonds, gold, and zircon have also been identified in the estuarine 

 sands of various States, but extraction appears unlikely. 



Magnesium metal, magnesium oxide, and bromine are all extracted 

 from sea water and plants are presently located mainly in the estuarine 

 zones of Texas and California. Production is adequate for projected 

 demand and little expansion is anticipated, at least within the estuarine 

 area. Relatively little modification of the estuarine environment results 

 from these activities. 



In review, the future of mining in the estuarine zone and near 

 coastal waters will center on two categories of minerals that may give 

 rise to serious and increasing pressures on that environment: petro- 

 leum, gas, and sulphur, and sand, gravel, and shell. Improved manage- 

 ment of estuarine resources must take these primary and the associated 

 secondary and marginal activities into account in any rational scheme 

 to balance and optimize the values of the Nation's coastal resources. 



OUTDOOR RECREATION 



Historical trends 



Outdoor recreation awareness has existed since the establishment 

 of the first communities in the United States with their typical 

 commons and public parks. Parks and their value to an urban society 

 were reemphasized by the great city planning movement of the latter 

 decades of the 19th century. This revival was accompanied by an 

 awareness on the part of urban scholars that natural resources were 

 not inexhaustible and should receive a measure of protection. The ef- 

 fect, of course, was the establishment of the national park and na- 

 tional forest systems largely centered in the Western States and areas 

 of very light population. The advent of the State park movement in 

 the 1920's was augmented by a variety of national initiatives during 

 the 1930's which tended to establish some balance in the distribution 

 of land areas managed by public agencies for a variety of public pur- 

 poses, including outdoor recreation. The objectives were largely 

 resource-j)rotection oriented and the facility development which took 

 place during the 1930's was directed far more at providing employ- 

 ment than meeting, in a planned fashion, identified outdoor recreation 

 needs. 



The years of World War II and a suddenly released affluence during 

 the decade following the cessation of hostilities combined to produce 

 an enormous awareness on the part of a rapidly changing society that 

 the opportunities afforded by the public stock of resource areas was 

 inadequate to meet their needs. A variety of landmark investigations 

 into the status of outdoor recreation were undertaken and published 

 during that decade. Principal among them were : intensive studies of 

 the shorelines of the United States by the National Park Service, and 

 a preparation of Operations Outdoors program by the U.S. Forest 

 Service. These investigations culminated in the establishment of a 

 California Outdoor Recreation Study Committee and the National 

 Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission. 



