Contact: Dan Dewell FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7/18/97Improving and protecting both the economy and the environment of coastal areas is the focus of an international conference cosponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boston next week. "Coastal Zone 97" will focus on the history and future of sustainable development, maintaining economically and environmentally "healthy" coastal areas, preventing and responding to oil spills, and preparing for and recovering from natural hazards such as hurricanes and shoreline erosion.
Federal coastal zone management programs in the United States are coordinated by NOAA's National Ocean Service under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Dr. Nancy Foster, head of ocean service, said she is looking forward to the gathering of coastal zone managers from around the nation and the world.
"There has been a great deal of progress in coastal zone management in the United States over the past 25 years. Since the Coastal Zone Management Act was passed in 1972, all but four U. S. states and territories eligible to join the program have done so. Improvements in shoreline development, coastal environments, and public access to our nation's ocean and Great Lakes shorelines have been dramatic," she said. "But while the coasts are valuable and sensitive areas for our nation, ocean and coastal management transcend borders and global success demands global cooperation."
"Although the past quarter-century of work in U. S. coastal zone management has been productive, the theme of the conference the next 25 years' -- looks toward improvement and to the future, as sensitive coastal and shoreline areas everywhere brace for increased pressures from tourism, development, population growth, pollution, and natural hazards," Foster said.
"It's important to meet our domestic and international partners in this important work," Foster added. "We can and do learn from each other, and we know that international cooperation and planning are the keys to long-term success. This year we are celebrating the International Year of the Reef, and the United Nations has declared 1998 the International Year of the Ocean. It is clear that the world community recognizes the importance of the oceans," she said.
The 1997 conference is the tenth biennial gathering of members of the coastal zone management community. Other cosponsors of this year's conference are: The University of Massachusetts-Boston, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. It is being held at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel July 21-25.
For more information, contact: NOAA Public Affairs (Office, Silver Spring MD) Dan Dewell, 301 713-3078 ext 139 (July 18-25/Conference, Boston) Park Plaza Hotel, 617 426-2000=20 Coastal Zone 97 Conference Public Affairs Office Madeleine Walsh, 617 287-5571 -- Dee Garner 813 684-9304 The conference web site is: http://infinitefaculty.com/cz97