404 



The result of all these responses was a mass of information contain- 

 ing an extremely wide range of ideas; however, there were some pre- 

 vailing ideas. The following discussion constitutes a summary of the 

 highlights of these responses, which are being recorded and preserved 

 separately from this report for future reference, study, use and 

 updating. 



SPECTRUM OF INTEREST 



T') organize and analyze the mass of information, it was neces- 

 sary to develop a span of interest or a scheme for categorizing the 

 various viewpoints of the States regarding the Federal-State-local 

 management interplay. All of the viewpoints fell into one of three 

 categories : 



(1) Federl-State-local partnership for estuarine management. 



(2) State ownership/management of estuarine resources with 

 Federal assistance, and 



(3) Autonomous State management. 



Over 91 percent of the coastal States' responses fell in the second 

 category. The coastal States want to own/manage their own estuarine 

 resources but with a wide range of Federal assistance — technical, legal, 

 scientific, administrative, and financial. Federal assistance does not 

 necessarily mean only funds or financial support. Numerous States 

 want advice, counsel, and guidance as to what they should do. Many 

 States have the mechanics for managing the estuaries but often they 

 are either not being used or not used effectively or coordinated. The 

 States are asking for Federal assistance in interstate and intrastate 

 matters, in order to assume effectively their expressed estuarine man- 

 agement responsibilities. This includes the concept that there are many 

 administrative, technical, and research areas of a national nature that 

 each State cannot, or probably should not cope with, or possibly should 

 not be expected to cope with, such as the management of estuarine 

 resources that have a regional or national impact that extends beyond 

 the States' boundaries. From another viewpoint the States often have 

 State-oriented vision — while the Federal Government can provide 

 the national-scope overview. States can profit from others' experience 

 through coordination at the Federal level. 



Based on the general consensus of the State views, the following 

 discussion presents the details, expressed by the States, regarding their 

 ownership/management of estuarine resources with Federal assistance. 



ROLE or FEDERAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND PUBLIC AND PRIVATE 

 INTEREST, VIEWED BY THE STATES 



The coastal States believe that the Federal Government's primary 

 role is to provide assistance to the States in conducting their activities 

 related to the management of estuarine resources. 



In general, the States expressed the viewpoint that the Federal Gov- 

 ernment should provide a wide range of assistance ; this was grouped 

 into five categories as follows : financial, scientific, technical, legal, and 

 administrative assistance (table V.2.4). 



