Abstract:
The primary objective of this publication is to share with a wider audience the information and ideas that were shared by those attending the first workshop on Coastal Landform Management in Massachusetts that was held at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution on October 9 and 10, 1997. The workshop was designed to benefit resource management decision-makers through interactive exercises and discussions of coastal problems ranging from those that arise everyday to
those of unusual complexity. The immediate objective of the workshop was to improve familarity with existing management methodologies. The long-term objective was to improve the methodologies themselves.
The workshop was divided into four sessions, each beginning with a presentation followed by discussion. The discussions took place in four separate "breakout groups"-each led by a facilitator-that looked critically at the presentation and prepared a response. The entire group then reconvened for a panel discussion led by the facilitators and the presenter.
The first presentation (J. O'Connell) discussed the diverse landforms of the Massachusetts coast, the processes that produce and maintain them, and the problems associated with selecting the most appropriate management techniques. The second
(S. Macfarlane) focused on difficulties of managing inner shores using the Nauset and Pleasant Bay estuaries as examples. The third (J. Tanski) discussed management of altered shores using as an example Westhampton Beach on the south shore of Long Island. The final presentation (M. Reynolds and G. Giese) concerned the monitoring of changes in coastal landform sustainability and described checklists prepared to help managers monitor such changes.
