The Florida Coastal Management Program (FCMP) has added an important management tool - Florida Assessment of Coastal Trends (FACT) - to improve its vision in dealing with the future of Florida's coastal areas. The tool is an indicator system that provides a comprehensive perspective of the important environmental, growth management, economic, and social values associated with the coast. This system provides a means of evaluating Florida's progress in protecting its coastal areas, provides a basis for making strategic decisions about programs and financial resources, and provides information about coastal issues and problems to other decision-makers and the general public.

Introduction

Section A: Impact of Growth in the Coastal Zone
The primary concerns addressed in this issue are the impacts of population growth, patterns of development, sufficiency of infrastructure, and economic impacts.

Section B: Disruption of Coastal Physical Processes
These issues are important because they address the amount and effects of human alteration of the natural coastline and the costs associated with them.

Section C: Responding to Coastal Threats and Hazards
This issue addresses hazardous or catastrophic events, either natural or human-induced, that affect coastal counties.

Section D: Degradation and Restoration of Coastal Ecosystems
This issue area provides a broad view of the relative health and present status of components of the marine, estuarine, freshwater, and upland ecosystems present in Florida’s 35 coastal counties.

Section E: Managing Fresh Water Allocation
This issue addresses the management of fresh water in Florida for continued ecological maintenance and to meet agricultural, commercial, and industrial needs.

Section F: Sustaining the Human Uses of the Coast
This issue addresses the importance of safeguarding the attributes which are most valued by human users of the coast.

Section G: Balancing Public and Private Uses of Resources
This issue addresses the rights of the general public to access the beach and the rights of private property owners to build on the coast.

Section H: Preservation of Cultural and Aesthetic Resources
Preserving the history and culture of coastal communities is important because of the effects that development practices can have on historic, aesthetic, and cultural resources, both past and present.

Section I: Encouraging Public Awareness and Involvement
This issue addresses the level of awareness the public -- both residents and tourists -- has concerning coastal issues and people’s level of participation in coastal issues.

Executive Summary

Further Recommendations