112 
wind, a combination of forces as old as the sea itself * * * (an example is) the 
dramatic case of Cape May, N.J., a famous resort area which has lost a fourth of 
its land area to the combined action of wind and wave during the last 30 years or 
So. 
The State of Maryland loses about 300 acres of valuable land every year along 
the shores of Chesapeake Bay * * * Sections of shoreline at Point Hueneme, 
Calif., * * * have receded as much as 700 feet in 10 years. 
The article goes on to point out how the natural forces of erosion are 
greatly abetted by the actions of man. Joseph B. Browder, a southern 
field representative for the Audubon Society, has cited erosion in 
Miami Beach ‘‘caused by hotels built almost right in the surf, housing 
projects built on thousands of once-wild acres of tidal marshes.’’?° 
fan McHarg, in his book, ‘Design with Nature,’ has pointed out 
the dangers that trampling dunegrasses, lowering the level of ground- 
water, and interrupting littoral sand drift pose to the stability of dune 
formations. He has this to say about such formations in New Jersey: 
TABLE | 
Detailed Recreation Public Restricted 
4 ; shoreline shoreline recreation stretches 
Shoreline location (statute miles) (statute miles) (statute miles) (statute miles) 
Atlantic\Oceanee-no sets anes ce eee eee aera 28, 377 9, 961 336 263 
Gulf of Mexico___ 17, 437 4,319 121 134 
Pacific Ocean____ , 86 , 175 296 127 
GreatiLakesii Saba LEM Ate ae ai 5, 480 4, 269 456 57 
otal jes SNE leas ea 59, 157 21, 724 1, 209 581 
Note: Mileage of detailed shoreline, recreation shoreline, public recreation shoreline, and restricted shoreline by major 
coastlines as measured using Coast and Geodetic Survey methods and meeting criteria defined in text. 
Source: ORRRC Study Report No. 4, “Shoreline Recreation Resources of the United States’’ p. 11 1962 (reference 12). 
The knowledge that the New Jersey Shore is not a certain land mass as is the 
Piedmont or Coastal Plain is of some importance. It is continually involved in a 
contest with the sea; its shape is dynamic. Its relative stability is dependent upon 
the anchoring vegetation. * * * If you would have the dunes protect you, and 
the dunes are stabilized by grasses, and these cannot tolerate man, then survival 
and the public interest is well served by protecting the grasses. But in New Jersey 
they are totally unprotected. Indeed, nowhere along our entire eastern seaboard 
are they even recognized as valuable. * * * Sadly, in New Jersey no * * * 
planning principles have been developed. While all the principles are familiar to 
botanists and ecologists, this has no effect whatsoever upon the form of develop- 
ment. Houses are built upon dunes, grasses destroyed, dunes breached for beach 
access and housing; ground water is withdrawn with little control, areas are 
paved, bayshore is filled and urbanized. Ignorance is compounded with anarchy 
and greed to make the raddled face of the Jersey shore. 
A summary of the tidal shoreline of the United States as reported 
by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) 
is given in Table I. The shoreline is one of our most popular resources 
for outdoor recreation and in heavy demand; yet, as the table shows, 
1t 18 most scarce in terms of public ownership for recreation. The 48 
contiguous States have nearly 60,000 miles of shoreline, of which about 
one-third is considered suitable for recreational activities. This possible 
recreation shoreline includes beach, bluff, and marsh areas that must 
meet the following criteria: ” (1) the existence of a marine climate and 
environment; (2) the existence of an expanse of view of at least 5 
miles over water to the horizon from somewhere on the shore; (8) 
location on some water boundary of the United States. 
10 Tbid., reference 7. 
1 Tan McHarg, “Design with Nature,” The Natural History Press, Garden City, N.Y. (1969). 
2 Thid., reference 2; p. 11. 
