The coasts of the United States are managed under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), first enacted in 1972. Two federal agencies, the Coastal States Organization (CSO) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are considering suggesting updates to the Act, and have enlisted CBI’s help in doing intensive outreach to stakeholders.

During the spring and summer of 2007, Ona Ferguson and CBI Partners Jeff Edelstein and Suzanne Orenstein will be organizing and facilitating a series of 11 meetings around the country. These meetings are designed to gather input from a range of constituencies that care about what happens on the coasts. The ideas generated by stakeholders during these meetings will be used by CSO and NOAA as input for their development of suggested improvements to the CZMA and for improving coastal management in general.