FOREWORD 



Long Island Sound is one of the nation's unique and irreplaceable natural 

 resourceso An almost fully enclosed arm of the ocean, it has over 1300 

 square miles of water surface and over 600 miles of coastlineo Spreading 

 eastward along both shores from the great metropolitan center which lies 

 at the Sound's western end, a growing concentration of increasingly afflu- 

 ent people make ever greater demands on this urban seao At the same time, 

 there is a growing feeling that the conflicting demands are destroying the 

 Sound, and that the problems must be resolved if the Sound is to be preservedo 



The Long Island Sound Regional Study is a comprehensive planning effort by 

 the Federal government and New York and Connecticut, led by the New England 

 River Basins Commissiono Assisting the Commission are professionals from 

 many disciplines representing the Federal, state and regional agencies 

 listed on the back cover, a Citizen Advisory Committee, and a Research/ 

 Planning Advisory Committee composed of members of the region's scienti- 

 fic community. 



THE GOAL OF THE STUDY IS TO PRODUCE A PLAN OF ACTION BY THE 

 SPRING OF 1975 WHICH BALANCES THE NEEDS TO PROTECT, CONSERVE 

 AND WISELY DEVELOP THE SOUND AND ITS RELATED SHORELANDS AS 

 A MAJOR ECONOMIC AND LIFE- ENRICHING RESOURCE FOR THE 12 MILLION 

 PEOPLE WHO LIVE NEAR IT. 



This planning report is one of a seriesc The first half of each report is 

 problem-oriented. It summarizes demands placed upon the Sound and ad- 

 jacent lands, their capacity to supply these demands, and present or expected 

 needs to be met, if it is determined that supply should meet demand. The 

 last half of each report is solution-oriented. It formulates tentative objec- 

 tives and alternative measures for achieving the objectives. It evaluates the 

 environmental, economic and social implications of each measure and formu- 

 lates alternative plans. One plan is tentatively recommended. The planning 

 reports are printed and distributed before the final version of main report. 

 Therefore, final recommendations are to be found only in the main report, 

 scheduled for publication in the Spring of 1975. Planning reports in this 

 series include: 



Land Use 



Water Management 



Shoreline Appearance & Design 



Erosion and Sedimentation 



Flood Damage Reduction 



Recreation 



Fish and Wildlife 



Marine Transportation 



Minerals 



Power and the Environment 



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