Estuary protection: an overview of terms.
 
 

Coastal marshes alongside bays and estuaries are "every bit as much a part of our natural heritage as are mountains and great rivers."

Edward Kennedy

The Bill defined:

Need for cooperation among local, state and federal authorities to protect entire coastal wetland ecosystems.

Legally defined estuarine marshes eligible for protection

Tri-level planning to protect coastal resources was a forerunner of NEPA and CZM Act

1970 ruling on Boca Ciega Bay filling in Pinellas County, Fla. reflected the new status.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Bay, Harold Gilliam

Critics of marshland preservation as a waste of waste lands

Criticism of the 1968 Act's weaknesses: Many argued that the language of the bill was more a statement of intent and a special sentiment than it was a mandate to preserve the water and land quality of coastal marshes.

Terms to know

ad valorem taxation problem for strapped municipalities

equity in cost sharing of protecting common resources

wildlife protection required land and water acquisition

recreation access often was counter to protection

The public trust doctrine suggested that water levels are for the protection of resources the public has access to in terms of hunting (birds) and fishing (fisheries).

Tragedy of the Commons problem of common property resources with private profiteering at a cost to the public

Several commons intersect in the estuary -- an edge effect for biotic integrity clashed with layered common property resources such as fish, birds, recreation and water quality.
 
 

Coercion and mutually agreed upon controls involve watching of agencies to protect coastal zones.

Section §404 of the Clean Water Act, narrowly read by ACE to allow upland fill at the owners discretion would undermine estuarine integrity.

Tidelands require water and land protection together, not merely one to the detriment of the other.

Polluted water undermines the land's integrity, health and functionality.