Management of the national estuarine resource of the United States

Abstract

1. The Congress of the United States has directed that the Department of the Interior conduct a study of the estuarine areas of the United States and prepare recommendations for the management of the entire estuarine system as a major natural resource. These studies include analysis of the effects of pollution on estuarine uses, the economic and social importance of the estuaries, and the management approaches that have been used. 2. This paper outlines some of the problems involved in the development of such a plan and some of the approaches used to resolve problems. 3. The great diversity of the estuarine system is the major problem which must be overcome. There are political differences, which reflect the variety of State and local governmental arrangements; social and economic differences, which reflect major differences in population, industrial development, and estuarine uses; and differences in the local estuarine environment itself, which reflects differences in geography, coastal features, climate, and local offshore oceanographic characteristics. 4. These differences and the reasons for them are discussed, and the means being used to obtain the necessary information and resolve the conflicts are presented. © 1968 Biologischen Anstalt Helgoland.