The Delaware Coastal Zone Experience
![handle is hein.journals/envlnw5 and id is 737 raw text is: 1975]
THE DELAWARE COASTAL ZONE
EXPERIENCE
BY
JOEL M. GOODMAN*
During the past five years there has been evidence of an exten-
sive change in the perception of requirements for natural resource
management at all levels of community organization. These
changes have resulted in concerted efforts to better plan the utili-
zation of these limited and occasionally unique environments.
Among the more obvious resources of this type is the coastal zone
which includes: (1) the upland, the traditional habitat of man and
his institutions; (2) the water, an artificially bounded (politically
speaking) common resource; and (3) the meeting place of the two,
the shoreline, a physically dynamic linear resource.
Delaware has been a leading proponent of improved coastal
zone management and has undertaken a number of programs de-
signed to help achieve the goal of wisely using these resources. This
paper will attempt to provide some insight into a few aspects of
Delaware's traditions, geography, and the concerns which have
contributed to its position of proponency; it will conclude by defin-
ing some problems and potential solutions which may provide grist
for the legal mill.
A MATTER OF SCALE AND GEOGRAPHY
Geographically speaking, Delaware is one of the Middle At-
lantic group of states. It is small, comprised of only about 1.2
million acres and a population of not much more than 500,000. It
is within 300 miles of the eastern megalopolis and a population
which exceeds 50 million. Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia,
and New York are urban centers within only a few hours drive of
Delaware's 26 mile oceanic coast-a very limited resource when
compared with that of neighboring states. The Bay coastline is
more extensive, about 80 miles long, but is bordered by extensive
marshes and thus is relatively inhospitable to human intrusion.
* Director, Coastal Zone Research Planning, College of Marine Studies, Uni-
versity of Delaware. B.S.E.E., University of Pennsylvania, 1949; M.S.I.E., Georgia
Institute of Technology 1959.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/envlnw5&div=38&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Delaware Coastal Zone Experience
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