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Coastal Zone Information Resources for Washington State

Information on the Web

This page provides access to information resources on coastal zone management and the characteristics of the Washington coastal zone. We’ve also included what we regard as generally useful information that has a national or international scope, which with a measure of discretion, is more-or-less applicable to Washington State. Organizing such a mass of information ranging across the public policy - resource management - applied scientific spectrum is daunting. Policy-makers, scientists, and members of the general public are not familiar with each other’s "jargon" so that the simple labeling or indexing of topics is a challenge.

For this first edition of this information resource we’ve chosen to do the simplest thing possible - we've organized it like a telephone book topical directory (aka the "yellow pages") with some measure of cross indexing. Users familiar with the terminology of coastal zone management should have an easy time of finding things. Persons unfamiliar with the terminology of coastal zone management may benefit from first scrolling down through this page. You can always search for a key word or phrase by calling up the "Find" pop-up search window (Control+F in Windows or Command+F on a Macintosh) and entering your search terms(s).

Unless otherwise labeled, all references are to a web site. Some entries refer to technical reports or symposia papers.

Bulkheading, Bulkheads: see Coastal Erosion - Management

Climate Change: see Sea Level Rise and Climate Change

Coastal Erosion - Management

• "Marine and Estuarine Shoreline Modification Issues" - a technical report on environmental effects from the Aquatic Habitat Guidelines Project

Coastal Hazards

Coastal Zone Management - General

• Coastal States Organization
• International Coastal Management at coastalmanagement.com
• Marine Protected Areas
• The Coastal Society

Coastal Zone Management - Washington

• "Managing Washington's Coast" - the Washington State Coastal Zone Management Program Document (Plan)

Docks, Piers, and Wharves: see Overwater Structures

Environmental Education

• NRNC: Nisqually Reach Nature Center

Environmental Management - General

• MCBI: Marine Conservation Biology Institute

Geography and Mapping

• California Coastal Records Project
• Oregon's Coastal Atlas
• Washington Digital Coastal Atlas

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

• NOAA Home Page
• Coastal Services Center
• National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
• NODC: National Oceanographic Data Center
• OCRM: Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management

Ocean Policy and Management - General

• Pew Oceans Commission
• “Stratton Commission” Our Nation and The Sea report
• U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
• Washington's Ocean Resources

Overwater Structures

• "Overwater Structures: Marine Issues" - a technical report on environmental effects from the Aquatic Habitat Guidelines Project
• Residential Dock and Pier Management (NOAA)

Ports - Public

• Washington Public Ports Association

Professional Societies

• PERS: Pacific Estuarine Research Society
• PAW: Planning Association of Washington
• Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association

Public Trust Doctrine - Washington

Puget Sound

Sea Level Rise and Climate Change - National & Global

• IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - The IPCC is the leading source of analysis and information on global climate change science and policy.
• Sea Level Rise Reports from US Environmental Protection Agency

Sea Level Rise and Climate Change - Pacific Northwest & Washington

• CIG: Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington - The CIG is the leading source of analysis and information on climate change as it affects the Pacific Northwest.
• "Uncertain Future: Climate Change and Its Effects on Puget Sound" - a technical report by the Climate Impacts Group for Puget Sound Action Team

Shoreline Armoring: see Coastal Erosion - Management

"Soft" Armoring: see Coastal Erosion - Management

Tides - Prediction and Records

• Tidal Datum Epoch 1983 - 2001 from NOAA - For hard-core tidal enthusiasts. Average sea level is based on an 18.6 year tidal epoch, and it’s periodically recomputed.
• Tide Predictions Online from NOAA
• Tide Predictions from www.saltwatertides.com
• Water Level Records from NOAA - The actual tide levels hardly ever match the tide predictions due to atmospheric (barometric) pressure variation. If you’re doing beach research and the tide levels are important to your observations, you’ll want to check this web site after-the-fact to see what the variation was. Graphical and tabular data presentations.