Articles

• Bio-fuels
• 10 Questions on the NSLGC
• Dolphin SMART
• NOAA Team Focuses on Ways to Better Serve Customers
• Aquaculture Workshop
• Sea Briefs Editor Leaves Post
• D'Abramo Leaves MASGC Position
• Tim Mulvaney Comes Aboard
• Coastal Symposium to Focus on North Central Gulf Issues
• Success Story
• Upcoming Events
• Featured Publication
• From the Director

Sea Briefs is a report on the results of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

Editor: Laura Bowie

This newsletter is available in PDF format from:
masgc.org/seabriefs

MASGC supports applied, interdisciplinary marine science research, education and outreach efforts to foster the sustainable development and management of the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi-Alabama
Sea Grant Consortium
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
Phone: 228-818-8840
E-mail: seabriefs@masgc.org
MASGP 08-011-03

Guest Editorial
Envisioning the Future of Coastal Management

In 1972, the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) was passed allowing coastal states to set up voluntary management programs to manage the consumptive and protective interests in the coastal zone. Today, 34 coastal and Great Lakes states have approved coastal management programs, protecting more than 99 percent of the nation’s 95,331 miles of coastline.

The Alabama Coastal Area Management Program (ACAMP) was approved by the NOAA in the fall of 1979 with the purpose to promote, improve and safeguard the lands and waters located in Alabama’s coastal area. Next year will mark the 30-year anniversary of ACAMP. Responsibility for implementing ACAMP is split between the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). Both agencies are working with NOAA to look at the future of the CZMA. In 2006 and 2007, the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, in partnership with the Coastal States Organization (CSO), conducted a project in which coastal managers, stakeholders and federal agency partners identified future improvements to coastal management, including:

• long-term sustainability of coastal resources and communities;
• goal-driven and result-oriented requirements; and
• coordination and alignment of federal, state and local governments.

The states, CSO and NOAA look forward to working with the next administration and the new Congress to pass a new and improved CZMA. I encourage you to read the full report and provide comments on how to move forward with the reauthorized CZMA.

For more information, please visit: coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/czm/czma_vision.html.