I. INTRODUCTION 



Background 



Man's attraction to the ocean and coastal areas has been heightened 

 and complicated in the last couple of decades. The growth of older 

 cities, the birth of new urban areas, development of offshore resources, 

 the recreation movement and conservation efforts involved deep socio- 

 economic, technological and scientific changes. Every coastal area in 

 the country has experienced immense change of this kind resulting in 

 increased pressure on every resource of these unique areas. The major- 

 ity of the siting of industries, homes and public recreational facilities 

 has centered in these areas. Even though this growth was obviously 

 alarming during the 1950's and 1960's, there was no legal or admin- 

 istrative mechanism to direct or regulate development in the coastal 

 zone. Coastal Zone Management was an idea bom from the need to pro- 

 vide regulation of development of these land-sea interface areas. In 

 the late 1960's two major studies were undertaken which focused on 

 these problems and which later served as the basis for national coastal 

 zone management legislative proposals. These studies were the Com- 

 mission on Marine Science, Engineering, and Resources' final report, 

 Out Nation and the Sea ^ and the Department of the Interior's Na- 

 tional Estuary Study. ^ 



The Stratton Commission 



The Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources,'* 

 the Stratton Commission, produced a final investigative report entitled 

 Our Nation and the Sea. Since the Commission's mandate was to in- 

 vestigate and offer recommendations on a broad array of marine prob- 

 lems, it naturally devoted considerable effort to the unique problems 

 of the coastal zone and made specific recommendations for solutions 

 of those problems. The Commission's Panel on Management and De- 

 velopment of the Coastal Zone held hearings at eight locations through- 

 out the United States covering problems concerning shorelines, estuar- 

 ies, governmental jurisdictions, the Great Lakes, socioeconomic trends, 

 industrial development, housing development, recreation, sport fishing, 

 commercial fishing, navigation and spatial conflicts, erosion and 

 dredging. 



The results of the panel's investigation were reported in detailed 

 description in a separate volume entitled Science and Environment. 



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

 Sea. Washington, 1969. GPO. 



2 U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Bureau of Snorts Fisheries 

 and Wildlife and Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. National Estuary Study. Washington, 

 1970. GPO. 



a Established by Public Law 88-454 on June 17, 1966. 



(1) 



