Community
From the urban metropolises of New York and Los Angeles to the remote shores of the Pacific Northwest, coastal counties cover less than 20 percent of the land area, but are home to more than half the nation’s population. People live in coastal communities for a variety of reasons – generations stay where their ancestors first arrived; jobs bring immigrants from other parts of the U.S. and other countries; and others want to have access to natural areas and the beauty of the coast.
By 2015 coastal populations will increase by approximately 27 million people. Today, land is being developed at more than twice the rate of population growth, sprawling into farmland and forests. If today’s land use trends continue, more the one-quarter of the coast’s acreage will be developed by 2025.
These communities and the nation depend upon a healthy coastal environment to maintain economic prosperity.