A new comprehensive coastal management program developed by the State of Minnesota was announced by the U. S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today. The program will provide improved historic preservation along the Lake Superior shoreline and environmentally safe growth of ports and waterfront areas.

Minnesota's program opens the way for federal matching funds for coastal management projects, closer, coordinated assistance from NOAA and other federal agencies, and a stronger state voice concerning federal shoreline activities. The plan will be formally christened by state, federal, and local officials at a ceremony at the Two Harbors Lighthouse in Two Harbors, Minn., on September 7, 1999, at 5 p.m.

"This is the way government is supposed to work," said NOAA deputy administrator Terry Garcia. "This program was drawn up by the people of Minnesota and addresses the state's needs and priorities. In working with the federal government and through the National Coastal Zone Management program Minnesota will become a partner in a larger, national effort that recognizes the economic, environmental, and esthetic value of all our ocean and Great Lakes coastal areas."

Improvements in historic preservation and environmentally sound growth along Minnesota's 189 miles of Great Lakes shoreline are just two in a wide array of areas covered by the management program. Other areas include waste water treatment and water quality, fish and wildlife management, coastal erosion, and recreation. Adoption of the program not only means federal assistance in coastal management but also provides for 'consistency review' to ensure that actions by federal agencies that may affect Minnesota's coastal areas are consistent with the state's coastal management
program.

The national coastal management program is an outgrowth of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 and subsequent re-authorizations of the law which asks states to work with NOAA to identify, solve, and prevent problems in the nation's coastal areas through planning and management.

All 35 states and U.S. territories with ocean or Great Lakes shorelines can participate in the coastal management program. Minnesota is the 33rd to do so and joins five other Great Lakes states -- Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan -- in coastal management planning for the U.S. side of the lakes.