As long as the majority of our nation's population wishes to live and play in the coastal zone, pressures on wildlife habitat will continue. This means a growing list of coastal management issues—from docks to dredge permits, coastal construction to marsh restoration—will address threatened or endangered species.
While most people have heard about the national Endangered Species Act, state regulations are often quietly protecting species that have state or regional importance.
In the cover story of this edition of Coastal Services, we look at the issue of endangered species and how state laws are aiding coastal resource managers in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Also in this edition, we examine how a National Estuarine Research Reserve workshop led to the expansion of a regional Beach Conditions Report in Southwest Florida. The report provides the public with an abundance of beach information, including information about the presence of harmful algal blooms.
The information gathered for the Beach Conditions Report by lifeguards and county and park employees is shared with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which formulates a harmful algal bloom forecast.
The NOAA Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasting System is a collaborative effort of the Coastal Services Center, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, and CoastWatch, as well as a variety of state programs within the Gulf of Mexico.
The NOAA forecasting system alerts the public to county beach conditions that could impact human health and provides timely information to coastal managers regarding monitoring strategies.
The Center plays a key role in the project by translating scientific data and new technologies into a useful product for the coastal management community. For more information on the Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasting System, go to www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/habf/.
Other articles in this edition of Coastal Services cover New Jersey's efforts to prepare for a tsunami, and the Milwaukee Urban Water Trail, one of a growing number of water trails around the country.
We hope you find the articles in this edition interesting and informative. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback.
-- Margaret A. Davidson
