Our ocean and coasts are great places to live, work, and drive our nation’s economy. They support a wealth of biodiversity, which is part of our national heritage and character. Fifty years ago, Congress took action to protect the nation’s ocean and coasts, when it passed a set of powerful laws that help form the foundation for the nation’s marine stewardship: the Clean Water Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. These laws made a tremendous difference. The clean water we enjoy today, the species that have recovered from historically low population levels, the preserved public access to beaches and coastal waters, the two networks of protected areas that provide conservation, recreation, and economic opportunities to their communities: these are only some of the benefits we can trace back to these historic laws. But even greater challenges lie ahead. Our special aquatic places and species, and communities need you now more than ever to ensure that our legislative authorities and priorities remain relevant and adaptive to an increasingly dynamic natural and human environment. Marine Mammals Then Recent history indicates that man's impact upon marine mammals has ranged from what might be termed malign neglect to virtual genocide. These animals, including whales, porpoises, seals, sea otters, polar bears, manatees and others, have only rarely benefited from our interest; they have been shot, blown up, clubbed to death, run down by boats, poisoned, and exposed to a multitude of other indignities, all in the interests of profit or recreation, with little or no consideration of the potential impact of these activities on the animal populations involved. The term “marine mammals” broadly defines numerous and diverse species of mammals that live entirely or partially in marine or aquatic environments. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and sirenians (manatees and dugongs) spend their entire lives in water and come to the surface mostly to breathe, whereas pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walrus), sea otters, and polar bears spend time hauled out on land to rest, care for young, or avoid predators. Throughout the ages, humans hunted marine mammals for their meat, blubber, bones, or fur, and several species were driven to extinction such as Atlantic gray whales, Caribbean monk seals, and Steller’s sea cow. Other species such as North Atlantic right whales, Pacific gray whales, Hawaiian monk seals, sea otters, and West Indian manatees were driven to the brink of extinction but thankfully survived after the enactment of international treaties and wildlife conservation laws, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) and Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Marine Mammals Now Almost fifty years have passed since the MMPA and ESA were enacted, and the status of several marine mammal species has improved. Some populations of large whales are finally recovering after centuries of Yankee and Industrial whaling, such as Eastern Pacific gray whales and several populations of humpback whales that have rebounded and are no longer considered endangered or threatened under the ESA. While many pinniped species also have successfully rebounded from overexploitation, several marine mammals are still struggling. North Atlantic right whales, for example, remain critically endangered, and sea ice loss in the Arctic is creating challenges for species like the polar bear and Pacific walrus. Marine protected areas, such as our National Marine Sanctuary System and National Estuarine Research Reserve System, also help protect marine mammals in our coastal communities of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific. Marine mammals have historically been very difficult to study at sea since they spend most (if not all) of their time out of sight, but today we know more than ever before about them thanks to great technological advancements that allow us to monitor them at the surface as well as at depth. Marine mammals can teach us a lot about ocean health and climate change, so the more we know about them, the better we can recover and protect them and the habitats we share. Coast Then Man's attraction to the nation’s ocean and coasts has a long history. Coastal community growth was alarming during the 1950's and 1960's, but there was no legal or administrative mechanism to direct or regulate this development. Coastal Zone Management was an idea born from the need to provide regulation of development of these land-sea interface areas. With the end of World War II in 1945, Americans turned their attention to raising families and enjoying the expanding leisure time available to the burgeoning middle class. Many chose to spend their vacations along the nation’s 95,000 miles of coast. A report, Our Vanishing Shoreline, for the National Park Service completed in 1955 issued a warning to the country: “Almost every attractive seashore area on our Atlantic and Gulf coasts has been preempted for commercial or private development. Only a fraction of our long seacoast is left for public use, and much of this small portion is rapidly disappearing before our eyes.” In 1972, there was intense pressure to develop the nation’s shores for a plethora of potentially conflicting uses, including industrial, residential, recreational, and tourism, amid fears that without some kind of legal framework, the nation’s wild beaches and the public’s ability to access the seashore would be lost. But Congress took action and passed the Coastal Zone Management Act to preserve, protect, develop, enhance, and restore the country’s coastal resource Coast Now Fifty years after the passage of the Coastal Zone Management Act, nearly all the coastal states and most of the nation’s coastlines are managed under a federal and state partnership that balances the development of beaches and coastal habitats, also the preservation of coral reefs, seagrass beds, kelp forests, shellfish beds, wetlands, and rocky intertidal zones which promote good water quality, reduce damage from strong waves and flooding, and mitigate flooding risks. That’s important, as coastal communities are home to nearly half the American population, support 58.3 million jobs, and contribute $9.5 trillion to the U.S. economy. With this legislation, the nation has preserved public access to beaches and coastal waters, allowing Americans to pursue popular outdoor pastimes including fishing, bird and wildlife watching, canoeing and kayaking, surfing, jet-surfing, dronefishing, and aqua-caching, and other recreational pursuits. The challenges in the coming years are great, thanks to expanding populations. A strong conservation ethic runs through all of American society, which will serve us well as we continue to address our environmental challenges. NOAA Page 13 Environmental 50 Years of Ocean and Coastal Conservation
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