Coastal Governance

256 pages | 35 figures | 5.5 x 8.75

Foundations of Contemporary Environmental Studies Series

Coastal Governance provides a clear overview of how U.S. coasts are currently managed and explores new approaches that could make our shores healthier. Drawing on recent national assessments, Professor Richard Burroughs explains why traditional management techniques have ultimately proved inadequate, leading to polluted waters, declining fisheries, and damaged habitat. He then introduces students to governance frameworks that seek to address these shortcomings by considering natural and human systems holistically.

The book considers the ability of sector-based management, spatial management, and ecosystem-based management to solve critical environmental problems. Evaluating governance successes and failures, Burroughs covers topics including sewage disposal, dredging, wetlands, watersheds, and fisheries. He shows that at times sector-based management, which focuses on separate, individual uses of the coasts, has been implemented effectively. But he also illustrates examples of conflict, such as the incompatibility of waste disposal and fishing in the same waters. Burroughs assesses spatial and ecosystem-based management’s potential to address these conflicts.

The book familiarizes students not only with current management techniques but with the policy process. By focusing on policy development, Coastal Governance prepares readers with the knowledge to participate effectively in a governance system that is constantly evolving. This understanding will be critical as students become managers, policymakers, and citizens who shape the future of the coasts.

Review Quotes
Contents

“Coastal Governance provides the fundamentals needed to understand this complex process in a concise and exceptionally accessible form. Burroughs skillfully blends scientific understanding, appreciation of human dimensions, and revealing case studies, making the book an enlightening read even for professionals. He provides a lucid and up-to-date explanation of the evolution from single sector management to spatial and ecosystem approaches.”

Donald F. Boesch, President, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

“Thorough and perceptive…Through careful analysis and in-depth review of past and current coastal policy, Burroughs takes stock of what works and what doesn’t, and points the way ahead to a more effective coastal management approach. This is an essential policy primer for anyone working on coastal issues.”

Timothy Beatley, Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, University of Virginia

“This engaging primer not only explains current coastal policies, it illustrates how effective policy is developed. This is just the kind of clear-eyed analysis needed to reform coastal management and bring our shores back to life.”

Biliana Cicin-Sain, Director, Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy, University of Delaware

"Those of us engaged in the field of coastal and ocean management and policy are fortunate to be able to draw upon many fine books, journals and reports that both inform us and enlighten our efforts. Many of these publications are directed towards professionals, while others, serving as textbooks, focus on training students to become the next generation of ocean leaders. Seldom can a single book successfully function as both. Rarer still is the volume that transcends the usual descriptions of coastal and ocean issues by pragmatically illuminating the vital but often elusive connections between coastal science, the human dimension and policy-making, while also moving the reader from the "old" method of sector based management strategies to a more holistic view. Dr. Rick Burroughs . . . has written such a book."

The Coastal Society Bulletin

"The policy concepts in Coastal Governance resonate strongly with the latest thinking about complexity theory as applied to the adaptive management of social-ecological systems. Burroughs (Univ. of Rhode Island) succinctly and thoughtfully analyzes the ingrained habit of applying rigid, shortsighted policies to the management of the multiscale, self-organized intricacies of coastal ecosystems. By focusing critically on policy development, examining the underlying dynamic processes of social-ecological interconnections, and using case histories, Burroughs develops
new ecosystem-based management practices that are flexible, dynamic, and resilient over the long run and apt to be more successful than the linear, shortsighted institutional policies of the past. The 11 chapters in this book examine coastal ecosystem management from the perspective of policy processes and challenges, wetlands, watersheds and bays, fisheries, dredging, oil, and wastewater. The final sections include an extensive reference list, further readings, a glossary, and "Questions for Discussion" for each chapter. Tables, boxes, and figures are used sparingly throughout the text. The only drawback to this fine book is the less-than-cursory treatment of beach systems and barrier islands,
which abound along sandy shorelines. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries."

Choice

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1: COASTAL CHALLENGES
State of the coasts
Drivers for environmental change
The ocean commissions
Management goals and processes
Organization of the book

CHAPTER 2: POLICY PROCESS
Problems
Solutions
Selection
Implementation
Evaluation
Conclusion

CHAPTER 3: WASTEWATER
Sewage and disease: A problem
Sewage treatment: A solution
Making treatment a requirement: Selection and implementation
Did sewage treatment work? Evaluation
Unfinished business
Sector-based management
Conclusion

CHAPTER 4: DREDGING
The growth of shipping
Dredging
Environmental impacts
Law of dredging and disposal
Regulating the disposal of contaminated sediments
Gridlock
Enduring change?
Conclusion

CHAPTER 5: WETLANDS
The nature of coastal wetlands
The value of coastal wetlands
Uses and consequences
“No net loss” – a goal
One wetland resource – multiple agencies
Management practices
The coastal wetland program assessed
Conclusion

CHAPTER 6: MANAGING COASTAL AND OCEAN SPACES
Uses of coastal lands and waters
Conflicts
The Coastal Zone Management Act
Other space-based coastal management programs
Spatial management techniques
Evaluation of state programs
Spatial planning and management of ocean waters
Conclusion

CHAPTER 7: ECOSYSTEM GOVERNANCE
Nitrogen links among land/sea and society/nature
Ecosystem-based management in concept
Degree of change
Policy elements
Incremental change: Marine sanctuaries
Fundamental change: Ecosystem services
Conclusion

CHAPTER 8: WATERSHEDS AND BAYS
Evolution of river basin management
River/watershed management: an agency profile
Managing the landscape to preserve/restore bays
Watershed management for the Chesapeake Bay
Ecosystem management for watersheds and bays
Conclusion

CHAPTER 9: FISHERIES
Expansion of US fisheries
Biological limits to the fishery
Fishery management
Fisheries management councils
Fisheries management as ecosystem governance
Incremental change
Fundamental change
Who decides?
Conclusion

CHAPTER 10: CONCLUSION
Ends and means
Sector-based management
Spatial management
Ecosystem-based management
Change

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
REFERENCES
FURTHER READING
GLOSSARY
INDEX

Ecosystem Science & Management

Oceans

Policy & Law

You may purchase this title at fine bookstores across the United States. Outside the USA, see our international sales information.