25 



Obviously these large metropolitan centers demand — and attract — 

 a vast array of industrial and service activities. 



The challenge to provide facilities to meet the requirements of a 

 growing population — such as powerplants, housing, and transporta- 

 tion systems — demands vision and anticipation of needs — not just 

 reaction. 



Our coastal beaches and increasingly our estuaries are attracting 

 millions of Americans for all forms of recreation. And this is true 

 even though most of this land is in private ownership and inaccessible 

 to the general public. 



The concentration of recreation in our coastal zone has, in most 

 places, become so intense that the people who go there and the 

 resources that take the pressure, are too often shortchanged. 



Likewise, the public has a legitimate interest in protecting the 

 beauty of our landscape. 



And our coastal areas are as beautiful as they are varied. 



But too often these values — immeasurable in economic terms — re- 

 ceive inadequate consideration in the marketplace. 



Most importantly, the coastal zone of the United States, particularly 

 the estuaries, is rich in the production of vast quantities of both plant 

 and animal life. 



Although we usually think only of oysters, crabs, clams, and shrimp, 

 at least two-thirds of all our Nation's commercial and spoit fisheries 

 are dependent on the estuaries. 



All the wildlife and birds that depend upon marine aquatic life as a 

 food supply are likewise dependent on the natural functioning of our 

 estuaries. The marshes and wetlands provide a rich habitat for large 

 nmnbers of migratory waterfowl and other fish and wildlife. 



The estuarine zones — where fresh water meets the sea — and the 

 lands above and beneath its waters form a complex ecosystem which is 

 subject to cumulative and often subtle destruction by manmade 

 alterations. 



The en\dromnent of the coastal zone is threatened by all the pres- 

 sures I have mentioned in basically two forms : Pollution of its waters 

 and the physical alteration — and destruction — of its lands by housing, 

 industry, and transportation development. 



I need only mention the Everglades, San Francisco Bay, Biscayne 

 Bay, the Chesapeake Bav as pointed examples of what manmade pres- 

 sures do to these limited resources. 



Industrial and metropolitan sewage, agricultural pollution, and 

 waste discharges are the basic causes of this pollution. 



Residential and industrial development, often aided by short-range 

 zoning practices and the dredging and filling of the wetlands, create 

 the most serious physical alteration of the coastal zone. 



Of course, the members of this committee are very familiar with the 

 present means of dealing with water pollution. In this area we do have 

 a Federal/State system which is essentially sound. But the use and 

 regulation of the contiguous lands and wetlands pose altogether dif- 

 ferent regulatory and institutional problems. The unrestricted use of 

 private property by its owner is practically "sacred" in American pub- 

 lic thinking. But, in fact, private land is regulated and controlled 

 daily by a great variety of public controls, essentially local in nature. 



