2 



The Stratton Commission's summary report noted the uniqueness and 

 importance of the coastal zone : 



The coast of the United States is, in many respects, the 

 Nation's most valuable geographic feature. It is at the junc- 

 ture of the land and sea that the^reater part of this Nation's 

 trade and industry takes place. The waters off our shore are 

 among the most biologically productive regions of the 

 Nation.* 



Perhaps the most valuable feature of tlie 8tratton Commission's 

 final report was that it not oidy recognized the uniqueness of the area 

 but also the complexity of the problems involved. The report noted that 

 the uses to which the coastal zone was being put had outrim abilities 

 of the local governments who alone had the i-esponsibilities for plan- 

 ning and developing resolutions to these problems. Clearly, planning 

 and development were needed; but the local governments were not 

 able to measure up to the task, and the states did not possess the re- 

 sources to coordinate the needed effort. There was division as to respon- 

 sibilities among the several jurisdictions, and no central me-chanism 

 existed for formulating sound decisions affecting the coastal zone. In 

 its repoit, the Stratton Connnission put the burden for effective man- 

 agement on the state : 



Effective management to date has been thwarted by a vari- 

 ety of government jurisdictions involved, the low priority af- 

 forded marine matters by state governments, the diffusion of 

 responsibilities among state agencies and the failure of state 

 agencies to develop long range plans.^ 



Overall, the Commission found that the states were the central link 

 joining the many participants in coastal zone affairs, but the states 

 lacked the machinery for properly setting up a management mecha- 

 nism. Specifically, the Commission recommended that state coastal zone 

 authorities be formed, the states not be compelled to establish such 

 authorities, the Federal Government meet one-half of the operating 

 costs of the new state authorities and that matching grants be 

 provided. 



The Stratton Commission proposed that state coastal zone author- 

 ities be ci^eated to plan, regulate, acquire lands and develop public 

 facilities. It further recommended that the responsibility for imple- 

 mentation of this program be given to the then proposed National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since it would 

 offer a broader and more balanced perspective. Additionally, it urged 

 that Federal and state agencies provide more adequate support for 

 scientific and engineering research on coastal problems. 



The National Estuary Study 



The Estuary Protection Act ^ c<)mmissioned the Department of the 

 Interior to undertake "a study and inventory of the Nation's estuaries, 

 including without limitation coastal marshlands, bays, sounds, seaward 



*U.S. Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources. Our Nation and the 

 Sea. Waslilngton, 1969, p. 49. 



• Ibid., p. 56. 



• Public Law 90-454, 85 Stat. 625. 



