Building Capacity For Integrating Social Science With Coastal Management

	Speaker:
	Thomas E. Fish Human Dimensions Specialist NOAA Coastal Services Center
	Description: Over half the population of the United States lives within the coastal zone. Increased commercial and residential development, demand for public access, participation in outdoor leisure activities, and advancement in recreation equipment technologies create increased pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems and the services they provide. Gentrification along our nation's coasts influences the loss of resource dependent industries and contributes to the complexion of change related to the growing tourism and allied service industries. As more people choose to live, work, and play along our nation's coasts, coastal and marine resource management professionals are challenged with balancing the changing demands of the public with the management of the resources under their stewardship. Success in this delicate balancing act is aided by the use of consistent, systematic, decision-making tools. In the absence of such tools, management decisions are often fragmented, reactionary, and less defensible. This presentation describes efforts underway to identify social change and build capacity for incorporating social science into coastal management. Examples are drawn from recent projects including: a natural resource manager handbook for balancing visitor use and resource protection in coastal and marine protected areas; a social atlas depicting socioeconomic and demographic changes in North Carolina coastal counties; and social assessment training and technical assistance to aid managers in considering and better understanding the social environment in which they are managing. Each example highlights linkages between landscape ecology, ecosystem management, and sustainable tourism in an attempt to broaden the appeal and relevance of these topics for coastal management professionals.