Abstract:
The primary objective of this publication is to share with a wider audience the valuable
information and extensive dialogue that took place amongst over 140 individuals who attended
the second in a series of planned workshops on the science and management of coastal landforms
in Massachusetts. This workshop took place at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
on January 24, 2001. The individuals who attended this workshop are actively engaged in
planning, managing, regulating, engineering, educating, and studying coastal landforms and
their beneficial functions. This workshop titled, Can Humans & Coastal Landforms Co-exist?’, was
a natural follow-up to a previous workshop, Coastal Landform Management in Massachusetts, held
at WHOI October 9-10, 1997 (proceedings published as WHOI Technical Report #WHOI-98-16).
The workshop had a very practical, applied focus, providing state-of-the-art scientific understanding
of coastal landform function, case history management and regulation of human activities
proposed on coastal landforms, a multi-faceted mock conservation commission hearing
presented by practicing technical consultants and attorneys that involved all attendees acting as
regulators in breakout sessions, and, at the conclusion of the workshop, an open discussion on
all issues related to the science and management of coastal landforms, including future research
needs.
