National Dialogues on Coastal Stewardship Web Site
May 1998 - November 2001

The National Dialogues Web site, part of NOAA's State of the Coast Project, was retired on November 9, 2001. The National Dialogues brought together many partners in the coastal community with interests in ports, recreation, fisheries, and energy and mineral development to focus on the most important coastal and oceanic issues facing the United States late in the 20th Century. The major elements of the National Dialogues were the Stratton Commission Roundtable, a coastal trends workshop, a stewardship forum, and an Internet town meeting called Coast 2025.

Each of the major elements produced a number of informative papers and reports that are available here in PDF format. To access a paper or report, click on its title below. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader (download Adobe Acrobat Reader) to view the file.

Stratton Commission Roundtable
Coastal Trends Workshop
Trends and Future Issues in the Coastal States
Stewardship Forum
Coast 2025

Stratton Commission Roundtable

On May 1, 1998, members and staff of the Stratton Commission, whose work in 1969 led to the founding of NOAA, enactment of the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act, and other important advances in ocean and coastal management, met with today's ocean and coastal leaders. They discussed the establishment and accomplishments of the 1960s commission, current proposals for a new ocean commission, conditions that changed over time, and lessons learned. The papers listed below were prepared for that roundtable.

• Setting the Stage: Then and Now by Robert W. Knecht, Biliana Cicin-Sain, and Nancy Foster (pdf, 27 Kb)
• The Origins of the Stratton Commission by John A. Knauss (pdf, 34 Kb)
• Creating the Stratton Commission-A Reprise by Edward Wenk, Jr. (pdf, 123 Kb)
• Timing and the Work of the Stratton Commission by Samuel A. Lawrence (pdf, 36 Kb)
• The Stratton Commission: An Historical Perspective on Policy Studies in Ocean Governance, 1969 and 1998 by Harry N. Scheiber (pdf, 100 Kb)
• The Stratton Commission and Future Development of U.S. Management Policy for its EEZ by Roger E. McManus (pdf, 79 Kb)
• The Need to Re-Consider U.S. Coastal Policy by Jack H. Archer and Richard Delaney (pdf, 30 Kb)
• Our Ocean Future (Executive Summary) by Charles A. Bookman (pdf, 29 Kb)
• Entire Stratton Commission Roundtable Proceedings (pdf, 104 pages, 2.4 Mb)

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Coastal Trends Workshop

A January 1999 workshop, organized by ocean and coastal stakeholders, examined trends that will affect U.S. ocean and coastal policy in the next 25 years. Trends examined included demographic pressures on the coast, resource scarcity, technological and industry-driven innovations, social values and attitudes, international and domestic governance frameworks, ocean industries, and the actions of non-governmental organizations. In preparation for the workshop, a paper was developed entitled Trends in U.S. Coastal Regions, 1970-1998. The paper examines the direction of coastal resource use and management.

Workshop proceedings produced 21 papers.

The Next 25 Years: Global Issues

• Ocean and Coastal Futures: The Global Context, Allen Hammond, World Resources Institute (pdf, 65 Kb)
• Global Trends in Fisheries and Aquaculture, Richard Grainger, FAO Fisheries Department (pdf, 130Kb)
• The Coastal Population Explosion, Don Hinrichsen, United Nations consultant (pdf, 65Kb)
• Trends in U.S. Coastal Regions, 1970-1998, Charles Bookman, Thomas Culliton and Maureen Warren, National Ocean Service, NOAA (pdf, 37 pages, 618 Kb)

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Trends in Managing the Environment

• New Approaches to Environmental Management: Lessons From the Chesapeake Bay, Donald Boesch, University of Maryland (pdf, 41 Kb)
• Perspectives on Marine Water Quality, Tim Eichenberg, Center for Marine Conservation and the Clean Water Network (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Conserving Ocean Biodiversity: Trends and Challenges, Thomas Hourigan, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA (pdf, 98 Kb)
• Global Trends in Marine Protected Areas, Tundi Agardy, Conservation International (pdf, 65 Kb)

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Industry-Driven Changes and Policy Responses

• Changing Ship Technology and Port Infrastructure Implications, Rod Vulovic, Sea-Land Service, Inc. (pdf, 65 Kb)
• Deepwater Offshore Oil Development: Opportunities and Future Challenges, Paul Kelly of Rowan Companies, Inc. (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Challenges Facing the U.S. Commercial Fishing Industry, Pietro Parravano, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Coastal Tourism and Recreation: The Driver of Coastal Development, Biliana Cicin-Sain and Robert W. Knecht, University of Delaware (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Assessing the Economic Benefits of America's Coastal Regions, Howard Marlowe, American Coastal (pdf, 33 Kb)
• A Profile of Recreational Boating in the United States, Ryck Lydecker and Margaret Podlich, Boat Owners Association of the United States (pdf, 98 Kb)
• Marine Aquaculture in the United States: Current and Future Policy and Management Challenges, M. Richard DeVoe, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium (pdf, 65 Kb)
• Offshore Marine Aquaculture in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone: Legal and Regulatory Concerns, Alison Rieser, University of Maine School of Law and Susan Bunsick, University of Delaware (pdf, 65 Kb)
• The Potential for the Marine Biotechnology Industry, Shirley Pomponi of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (pdf, 65 Kb)
• Emerging Challenges for U.S. Marine Biotechnology, Robert Knecht, Biliana Cicin-Sain, and Dosoo Jang (pdf, 33 Kb)

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Trends and Future Issues in the Coastal States

• Building Capacity for Ocean Management: Recent Developments in U.S. West Coast States, Marc Hershman, School of Marine Affairs, University of Washington (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Coastal States' Challenges, Sarah Cooksey, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the Coastal States Organization (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Development of a Comprehensive Ocean Policy for Florida, James Murley and Laura Cantral, Florida Governor's Ocean (pdf, 33 Kb)
• Complete Proceedings (all papers listed above) (pdf, 845Kb)

Stewardship Forum

A forum on the future of coastal stewardship was held in March 1999 in Washington, D.C. to identify and begin to understand the consequences of major social, economic, and environmental trends in the nation's coastal areas by the year 2025. About 50 individuals from each of the ten partner organizations in NOAA's National Dialogues on Coastal Stewardship participated in the forum.

• Forum Proceedings (pdf, 25 pages, 260 Kb).

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Coast 2025

What will America's coast be like 25 years from now? Coastal partners from around the Nation proposed a vision, Coastal Futures 2025. Between July 1999 - June 2000 participants were able to post opinions and comments on 11 topics ranging from technology to recreation and tourism through this an Internet Town Meeting conducted on the National Dialogues Coast 2025 Web page.

• Summary Report: Town Meeting on America's Coastal Future, Using the Internet to Promote Coastal Stewardship (pdf, 1Mb)

For information about NOAA's State of the Coast Project, contact John Paul Tolson.