403 



coordinating management organization, placed high enough in the 

 State government to be effective; the need for the development and 

 implementation of a comprehensive management plan, approved by 

 the State ; and the development, passage, and enforcement of restric- 

 tive use regulations and provisions plus the need for assistance in five 

 areas: technical, scientific, legal, administrative, and last, but not least, 

 additional funding of estuarine- related activities. For this assistance 

 and coordination the States look to the Federal Government (as de- 

 tailed later in this chapter) but first, they must fully utilize their 

 own capabilities. 



In an evaluation such as this it is very easy to let details and com- 

 plexities overshadow and even obliterate the basic concept. A simple, 

 though often and easily forgotten basic concept or common denomina- 

 tor in estuarine management, is that if estuarine uses are not con- 

 trolled, regulated, planned, or guided, then the undaunted exploita- 

 tion, by whoever hapi^ens to be there, continues and the estuaries are 

 not managed for the maximum benefit of the population; this is 

 against the public interest. As expected, the States consider it to be 

 their responsibility to control their estuarine uses. However, if this 

 responsibility is not adequately assumed by the States then the respon- 

 sibility to prompt them into action must emanate from a source other 

 than their own initiative — in this case, the Federal Government. The 

 chance that the responsibilities for managing the estuaries would re- 

 vert to the local level are highly remote because generally local gov- 

 ernments have fewer capabilities than State-level governments. It fol- 

 lows then that if the responsibilities cannot be assumed by the State 

 government they also cannot be assumed by the local level. Therefore, 

 the States themselves must act, and act quickly, to develop adequate 

 capabilities to assume their responsibilities of forestalling further 

 degradation of our estuarine resources. 



Section 6. States Views on Comprehensive Management 

 HOW opinions were obtained 



To help develop a true picture of the opinions and expressions of 

 the States on the comprehensive management of the estuarine zone, 

 the coastal States were queried directly through several routes. The 

 National Estuarine Pollution Study Staff directly and through its 

 regional representatives asked the estuarine study representatives ( ap- 

 pointed by the Governor) of each coastal State "What were the States 

 views on the composition and management of the comprehensive na- 

 tional programs?" The responses were received via several routes: 

 incorporated in the State profile, prepared and/or reviewed by the 

 States; by correspondence received directly from the Governor, his 

 assistant or the State's estuarine representative ; and/or by statements 

 included in the record of the 30 estuarine public meetings, held in the 

 various sectors of the Nation and attended by several thousand people. 

 Other sources included State-prepared reports, special study (contrac- 

 tor) reports, and miscellaneous study documents. 



