Betting on a shore thing Change along our coastline has been a
constant since the present system of barrier islands and
associated estuaries and their wetlands first formed several
thousand years ago. We must, therefore, accept that change will
continue into the future. Sea-level rise will continue, perhaps
at an increased rate, and storms will surely impact our coast on
a regular basis and perhaps with greater intensity than in the
past. None of this would be of concern were it not for the fact
that we have managed our coastal zone as if it were a static
system. We have become dependent on large coastal segments that
are devoted to agriculture and forest industries, commercial and
sport fisheries and a burgeoning tourist industry. These
businesses and the fixed structures (roads, bridges, buildings
and supporting infrastructure) built on mobile barrier islands,
migrating estuaries and wetlands are imperiled because the
coastal system will inexorably continue to evolve and migrate.
Thus, we have conflicts. Ho