A definitive inventory of the Nation's coastal 

 recreational resources, including existing and po- 

 tential resources, is required to provide the facts 

 for sound planning. The size and optimum capac- 

 ity of recreational areas and the types of facilities 

 available need to be identified and compared with 

 current and projected demands for marine- 

 oriented recreation in individual areas or regions. 

 An agency of the Federal Government (Bureau of 

 Outdoor Recreation) could conduct the survey 

 with cooperation from State and municipal gov- 

 ernments and private organizations. 



Recommendation : 



A definitive inventory of existing publicly and 

 privately-owned public recreational facilities and 

 of potential resources in coastal areas should be 

 undertaken immediately to provide a basis for 

 realistically appraising the needs for new resources. 



B. Potential Coastal Recreational Areas 



The 48 contiguous States have about 59,000 

 miles of shoreline out of which 21,724 miles was 

 classified by ORRRC as having recreation poten- 

 tial. Some 4,350 miles are beach, 11, 160 miles are 

 characterized as bluff, of which perhaps half has 

 usable beach, and 6,214 miles are marsh shoreline. 



How many people could be accommodated by 

 this much shoreline? Research data relevant to this 

 problem are virtually nil. 



However, a number of city and county planning 

 commissions have standards which call for 75 to 

 150 square feet of beach per person. If one 

 assumes an average beach width above water of 50 

 feet and applies the criterion of 150 square feet 

 per person as ORRRC did, each mile of beach 

 could accommodate 1,760 persons, and on this 

 basis the existing beach extent of 4,350 miles 

 could accommodate 7,656,000 persons. Assuming 

 that 10 per cent of the population will use the 

 beach at a given time the existing beach shoreline 

 of the United States could accommodate a popula- 

 tion of about 77 miUion. 



If the comparably derived figure applicable to 

 the half of the 11 ,1 60 miles of bluff shoreline that 

 has beach areas is added, an additional 112 million 

 persons could be served, making a total of some 

 200 million. The potential of marsh shoreline to 



accommodate people is not known but it could be 

 large. 



Thus, if only gross area is considered, there is 

 not at present a shortage of shoreline for recrea- 

 tion purposes. However there is a problem of 

 ownership and, more importantly, a problem of 

 imbalance between the location of population 

 centers and accessibility to adequately developed 

 slioreline open to the use of the general pubhc. 



Of the total 21,724 miles classed as recreational 

 shoreline 19,934 miles,^ or 92 per cent, was 

 privately owned in 1962, and although a substan- 

 tial number of recreation facilities, such as resort 

 hotels and marinas, have been developed by 

 private industry, the recreation activity absorbed 

 by the private sector is not known. Certainly the 

 overwhelming bulk of privately held land is pre- 

 empted for vital «on-recreational purposes. How- 

 ever, some privately-held lands could probably be 

 used for public recreation if demand were great 

 enough to make it economically feasible, or, 

 alternatively, if Government incentives could be 

 provided. 



Of the 1,790 miles (8 per cent) in public 

 ownership in 1962, 581 miles is in military or 

 other restricted usage, leaving only 1,209 miles or 

 a little more than 5 per cent of the total recrea- 

 tional shoreline for publicly-owned recreational 

 areas. Applying the criterion of 150 square feet 

 per person over a 50-foot wide strip of shoreline as 

 ORRRC did gives recreational accommodations 

 for only about 2.1 million persons, enough to 

 serve a population of only 21 million, by 

 ORRRC's rule of thumb. This assumes that all of 

 the 1,209 miles is beach shoreline, which it is not. 



The above exercise indicates that if allotment 

 of 150 square feet per person is valid, there is 

 indeed a shortage of publicly owned recreation 

 shoreline, which is doubtless even more serious 

 than it appears if one takes into account that only 

 a small fraction of the 1,209 miles is readily 

 accessible to urban areas where the greatest need 

 lies. 



What can be done to improve this situation 

 which can only become worse as recreational 

 demand rises? 



An unknown amount of this shoreline has been 

 acquired for parks, etc. since 1962. 



VII-241 



