AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH TO MANAGING ESTUARIES - AN ASSESSMENT OF THE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM

Traditional coastal resource management programs tend to be fragmented and focused on a limited subset of problems. Many scholars, governmen t practitioners, and academics have argued that an ecosystem-based app roach is more appropriate. A promising ecosystem-based approach to man aging estuaries in the United States is the National Estuary Program ( NEP). The goal of this article is to examine the extent to which the N EP's management conference process represents an ecosystem-based appro ach to managing estuarine systems. The article begins with a discussio n of the challenges associated with utilizing an ecosystem-based appro ach to environmental management. The strategy, structure, and process of the NEP are then examined using evaluative criteria drawn from a pr evious study of historical attempts to manage coastal areas in the Uni ted States. Based on the results of this assessment, some of the stren gths and weaknesses of the NEP's management conference process are ide ntified. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications a ssociated with adopting ecosystem-based approaches to environmental ma nagement on a broader scale in the United States.