160 The Environmental Debate
(2) coastal barriers contain resources of
extraordinary scenic, scientific, recrea-
tional, natural, historic, archeological,
cultural, and economic importance,
which are being irretrievable damaged
and lost due to development on, among,
and adjacent to such barriers;
(3) coastal barriers serve as natural storm pro-
tective buffers and are generally unsuitable
for development because they are vulner-
able to hurricane and other storm damage
and because natural shoreline recession
and the movement of unstable sediments
undermine manmade structures;
(4) certain actions and programs of the Fed-
eral Government have subsidized and
encouraged development on coastal bar-
riers and the result has been the loss of
barrier resources, threats to human life,
health, and property, and the recurring
expenditure of millions of tax dollars; and
(5) a program of coordinated action by
Federal, State, and local governments is
critical to the more appropriate use and
conservation of coastal barrier resources.
(b) Purpose. The Congress declares that it is
the purpose of this Act to minimize the
loss of human life, wasteful expenditure of
Federal revenues, and damage to fish and
wildlife and other resources associated with
the coastal barriers along the Atlantic and
gulf coasts by establishing a Coastal Barrier
Resources System, by restricting future Fed-
eral expenditures and financial assistance
which have the effect of encouraging devel-
opment of coastal barriers, and by consid-
ering the means and measures by which the
long-term conservation of these coastal
barrier resources may be achieved.B. Excerpts from Key Testimony
Statement of James W. Pulliam, Jr.
The great concentrations and diversity of fish
and wildlife associated with the relatively limited
area of coastal barriers can, in part, be attributed
to the role of these landforms as the terrestrial
buffer between protected estuaries and lagoons
and the more turbulent nearshore ocean waters.
These waters, including estuarine and lagoon
marshes, intertidal beaches and tidal flats, are
among the most fertile and productive known....
Up to 90 percent of all commercially important
fin and shellfish caught on the Atlantic and gulf
coasts are dependent during some stage of their
life cycle on estuarine habitat largely created by
coastal barriers. Many of these species, as well as
others, constitute the base of a large recreational
fishery along the Atlantic and gulf coasts....
These primary consumers in the estuarine
ecosystem in turn attract and support secondary
consumers of the food web, including shorebirds,
wading birds, waterfowl, raptors, and mammals.
Migratory waterfowl are winter inhabit-
ants of coastal barriers and the waters which lie
behind them. Species which rely on these ecosys-
tems include whistling swans, snow and Canada
geese, widgeon, gadwall and mallards....
Barriers along the Atlantic and gulf coast
are also a key migration route for several rap-
tors. The peregrine falcon and, in particular, the
arctic peregrine, use the coastal barriers, feeding
primarily on sanderlings, killdeer, flickers, and
other medium-sized birds. Other species utiliz-
ing these landforms include the bald eagle, mer-
lin, osprey, kestrel, and marsh hawk.
* * *
Over 20 vertebrate species associated with
coastal barrier islands have been listed pursuant
to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 [see Docu-
ment 120]. These include such endangered birds
as the whooping crane, bald eagle, eastern brown
pelican, as well as other wildlife species like the
manatee, American crocodile, and the green log-
gerhead, Ridley, and hawksbill sea turtles.Statement of Lawrence Young
[T]he position of the National Association of
Realtors is that it is opposed to the enactment of