Officials in the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, were concerned about the aesthetic and natural-resource impacts of an increasing number of docks on Green Pond. They wanted a tool that would allow them to illustrate dock and pier build-out under the existing regulations.
Increased population growth in coastal areas can result in pollution, habitat loss and degradation, overfishing, invasive species, and increased threats due to coastal hazards. Understanding the linkages between land use strategies and their effects on coastal-marine ecosystems is critical to the development of sound land use policies that minimize impacts from population growth and maintain the social, economic, and ecological values of our coasts.
Location:
Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), TX
Coastal and estuarine habitats in the Northeast are being significantly impacted by a rapid rate of population growth and an ever-accelerating change in land use composition.