not specifically authorized by the Congress. The 
Corps designs and constructs these projects up to 
$2 million or 50 percent of its cost for publicly owned 
shores (70 percent for public parks), whichever is 
less. This program assists in the reclamation of eroded 
public beaches. 
The Federal-Aid Highway Act [90 Stat. 442, 
(1976) 23 U.S.C. 319] authorizes grants to States 
and local governments by the Department of Trans- 
portation for the purpose, among others, of pro- 
viding roadside recreational areas, including access 
to these. To the extent that an ocean (or Great 
Lakes) highway was involved, this authority con- 
ceivably could be used for coastal beach area acqui- 
sition (highway-related recreational areas) and very 
probably beach-access acquisition. 
Equitable Use: Private vs. Public Interest 
The question of how to make coastal recreation 
opportunities available to all segments of the popu- 
lation is perhaps the most difficult policy question to 
deal with in marine recreation. Basic to the issue is 
the fundamental right of private property owners to 
enjoy the fruits of their labors. This increasingly has 
come to mean a piece of coastal real estate. Owners 
of such land naturally want to enjoy its use unim- 
paired. 
The rapid expansion of the second home market 
along the coasts, the condominium construction 
boom, and the growth of trailer parks are all indi- 
cators of increased private use of the coast. This 
expansion of private use has two immediate and ob- 
vious effects: (1) prices are driven up as demand 
increases, and (2) the amount of territory left avail- 
able for public purchase and use is increasingly 
smaller. On this latter point, the situation in Fior- 
ida may be more desperate than other States, but it 
is representative: **° 
“With the land use and development con- 
ditions prevailing in Florida today, the 
years immediately ahead may afford vir- 
tually the last opportunity to set aside and 
preserve land areas of exceptional natural 
quality for perpetual public enjoyment.” 
The private property owner’s rights clash directly 
with the public’s interest in having free and un- 
fettered access to the coast. This is no different than 
the situation throughout the country, it is simply 
that coastal territory is extraordinary valuable for 
both private pursuits and public pleasures. 
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, puts the 
private vs. public coastal issue into perspective. The 
Sea Pines Plantation development there is a success- 
ful private venture noted for sound environmental 
principles and planning. The result is a resort with 
1,300 homes and 1,154 “villas,” in a well-designed 
and well-maintained luxury setting. For those who 
can afford the $100,000 lots and $225,000 houses, 
the setting is ideal. While not closed to the public, 
116 Florida Department of Natural Resources. Outdoor Recrea- 
tion in Florida. Tallahassee, Fla., 1976, p. 9. 
($2 fees are charged), the island resort is essentially 
the playground of the very wealthy and the general 
public is effectively blocked from use of this portion 
of the coastal region. But to allow masses of people 
on a barrier island such as Hilton Head could mean 
that the carrying capacity of the island—its natural 
ability to absorb the impact of a large number of 
people and their cars—would be exceeded and the 
natural attributes of the island damaged. 
The developer of Sea Pines, Charles Fraser, has 
discussed publicly some of the problems involved 
in allocating coastal territory—and some of the 
ironies involved. In a presentation at the first na- 
tional coastal zone management conference, in June 
1973, he said: 1?" 
“I predict that when the National Park 
Service begins to propose plans for public 
use of Cumberland Island (Georgia), long 
sought as a national seashore area, there 
will be enormous pressures not to let 
-many people use it. Let them go ‘some- 
where else’-—where is the ‘somewhere 
else?’ At this moment in time, the safety 
valve for the pressures of the population 
desiring the seacoast vacation is, in fact, 
the uncontrolled, raw, boiling, and often 
ugly, privately-owned public beaches. At 
the public beach of Myrtle Beach (South 
Carolina), every inch of which is privately- 
owned (sic), there are today more people 
spending the night than are in our national 
parks. The National Park Service is only 
given funds by Congress to hire 13,000 
year-round employees. Disney World alone 
employs more than that....If we don’t 
permit growth in response to economic 
demands, then we force the pricing 
mechanisms to say to many, “You can’t 
come,’ or the most sophisticated reserva- 
tion-makers to make their reservations 
two years in advance. If we let any jackass 
117 Council of State Governments. Proceedings of the Confer- 
ence on Organizing and Managing the Coastal Zone. Washington, 
DiGe 1978 sip 20k 
IV-56 
