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of the States. At the same time, it must be recognized that a strong 
Federal involvement is necessary to (1) coordinate the efforts of 
individual States and resolve conflicts that arise due to interstate 
secondary benefits and (2) establish uniform objectives and guidelines 
to assist the States in the problem of how decisions are to be made 
in the absence of the private market discipline. 
I. INTRODUCTION 
Over the last 300 years, the American shoreline has been considered 
a limitless resource, much the same as our air and water masses, to be 
used freely by man for the growth and progress of his society. Since 
the times of the early colonists, the coastal areas have been the gate- 
ways to this Nation. The first settlements that grew up around the 
natural harbors of the coastal zone have since developed into thriving 
centers of population and industry and as seaports that are focal 
points for the transportation and commerce of our growing Nation. 
Throughout this historical period of population growth and industrial 
expansion, the coastal zone has been recognized as an attractive place 
to live and work, a convenient transportation corridor linking the 
coastal cities, and as an ideal source of recreational opportunity. Since 
the capacity of coastal resources to support these multiple endeavors 
has always been viewed as relatively limitless, “the laws regulating 
man’s activities in this zone were historically intended to protect and 
serve individual and group interests in dealing with each other” ! 
within the context of the economic system of free enterprise in the 
private marketplace. Under this system, the shoreline “has largely 
been left for acquisition and exploitation by whatever public or private 
agencies desired to undertake its ownership, control, and manage- 
ment.” ? Since there always seemed to be plenty of shoreline open for 
a wide variety of recreational pursuits and no indications of serious 
damage to the ecological systems in the estuarine zones, there was no 
perceived need for public interference in the allocative workings of the 
private market. The result is that today, approximately 91 percent of 
this limited, unique natural resource is under private control, another 
3 percent is restricted for military uses, leaving only 6 percent of the 
shoreline in public ownership. Thus, the coastline, as a public com- 
modity, has become one of the most scarce of all our valuable natural 
assets and the shortest in supply relative to the heavy demand from 
competing uses. 
Under normal market conditions, the prices associated with coastal 
real estate would adjust in such a situation so that the use deriving the 
greatest benefit (as measured in ability and willingness to pay) from 
coastal ownership would be able to secure control. This is indeed 
happening to a certain extent as the cost of acquiring shoreline property 
has become astronomical in recent years. It has become increasingly 
clear, however, that the price mechanism of the private market has 
failed to represent certain important societal values in its allocation of 
coastal resources and is unable to provide for the proper expression of 
1 U.S. Department of the Interior, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, ““The National 
Estuarine Pollution Study,” vol. I, pt. Il, p. 27, Nov. 3, 1969. 
2The George Washington University, ‘Shoreline Recreation Resources of the United States,” Study 
Report No. 4 to the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) of the Bureau of 
Outdoor Recreation, Department of the Interior, p. 10. (1962) 
