What is the legal authority for shoreline restoration?
The first legislative finding in the Shoreline Management Act states: “The legislature finds that the shorelines of the state are among the most valuable and fragile of its natural resources and that there is great concern throughout the state relating to their utilization, protection, restoration, and preservation.”6 (emphasis added) The current regulations to implement planning under the SMA provide the following guidance on restoration: • One of the major policy goals of the SMA is “Protection and restoration of the ecological functions of shoreline natural resources.”7. • “Master programs shall include goals and policies that provide for restoration of impaired ecological functions”.
