An ecologic-economic perspective for coastal zone management

The issue of land resource management has recently taken on meaning not previously associated with the term. Federal, state and local governments as well as highly organized public and private groups have identified land resource management as a critical issue of this decade. Many existing private and public institutions are being challenged and new institutional arrangements are being forged to deal with land resource management issues. One of the most commonly recognized critical land management areas is the narrow band of land and water known as the coastal zone. Although regional studies have dealt with one or more of these problem areas in the past, the intensive multiple use of this particular geographic area has focused attention on it from a multiple disciplinary vantage point. This study attempted to demonstrate the usefulness of economic-ecological analysis in seeking solutions to the allocation of coastal zone resources to alternative uses.