What is the Coastal Zone Management Program?
Coastal management is a joint planning and management effort by local, state, and federal governments and the private sector to manage coastal resources and to promote their wise and balanced use. In 1972, recognizing the national need for a coordinated governmental approach to the balanced use of coastal resources, Congress passed the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The federal program was designed to assist states in exercising their management responsibilities over land and water resources through the development and implementation of state management programs. Alaska exhibited intense pressures on its coastal resources, which prompted Congress to enact the CZMA. The size and diversity of Alaskas coastal area and wealth of coastal resources required specially adapted organizational arrangements for coastal management. Those specialized needs were reflected in the passage of the Alaska Coastal Management Act of 1977 (AS44.19.891-894 and 46.40), which provided for the stat
