Paradise Found!
Designing the Ultimate Coastal Community

Steven Straitiff
1991 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute

Lesson Summary

• General Goal: To stimulate creative thought and planning with regard to the use of coastal resources.
• Grade Level: Grades 8-12
• Duration: One 50-minutes period
• Learning Objectives: On completion of this lesson students will be able to
  • Display on a map or chart how many diverse interests and needs for coastal resources can be met simultaneously through proper advanced community planning.
  • Examine plan maps of other communities and assess the extent to which competing/conflicting needs for coastal resources are being met.

• Process Skills Used in This Lesson:
  • analysis of various demands on a resource
  • Special community planning
  • Mapping skills

• Prereguisite Skill for Students
  • It is important for students to understand the concept of maximum sustained yield in regards to any population of harvestable plants/animals. It is helpful for students to understand how local and state agencies have struggled with competing interests in their attempts to ensure that the maximum sustainable yield is not exceeded for a given population, e.g., fish, lobsters, crab, shrimp, etc.

  • knowledge of fishing/collecting methods and their impact on the environment is also important. It is also advantageous for students to become familiar with the components of an Environmental Impact Report and to participate in a 'role playing' debate in class to become familiar with the processes of compromise and mitigation involved in the sound management of coastal resources.

• Background for the Teacher: The teacher should have a basic knowledge of the history surrounding the development of nearby coastal, lake front or river front areas.

Material for Students

• copy of a plan map
• list of development/conservation interests
• list of economic considerations

Note

Management Suggestions

Procedure (Teacher)

1. Distribute a copy of the plan map and a list of development or conservation needs and groups to each student.
2. Direct students to design the ultimate coastal community that meets the needs of all interests while sacrificing little to the compromise process.
3. When students have completed their designed communities, direct a discussion wherein students are allowed to share their creative ideas with others in the class without judgment.

Procedure (Student)

Instructions:

• Use the plan map to design the ultimate coastal community.
• Draw or indicate on the plan map where facilities and other developments should be placed. Try to meet the needs of all the interests in the following list, sacrificing as little as possible to the compromise process.

  Be creative and thorough! Do not limit yourself to solutions already in existence. What you are doing is creating a LAND USE MANAGEMENT PLAN, taking into consideration all interests and needs.

• Address the needs of the following interests while development your community plan:
  • Commercial fisheries: dock space, of f-loading facilities, markets, etc.
  • Sportsfishing: docks, boat service facilities, clubhouses, fuel docks, marinas, yacht clubs, etc.
  • Recreational uses: beaches, picnic areas, boat launching ramps, restaurants, parks, etc.
  • Tourism: hotels, restaurants, boat rentals, entertainment facilities, etc.
  • Environmental/Conservation: areas left natural, bird watching, nature center, etc.
  • Public access to beaches
  • Private residences
  • Small business interests: stores, shops, cafes, etc., to serve residents and tourists.
  • Sewage disposal
  • Solid Waste Disposal

After Completing Your Plan Map:

• Prepare a written plan outlining solutions to the economic problems of your community. Where will funds be found to develop public areas? To maintain public areas and nature centers? Where will funds be found for the development of the other areas of your community? Taxes, private investors, grants? Hotel taxes, user fees for parks and parking, etc.?
• Be able to explain the reasoning behind your community plan during class discussion.

Follow-up Activities

• Compare your land use plan with a local coastal community. Describe the similarities and differences and explain why yours may be a better community design.
• Write a response to a special interest group that has complained to you that its interest was not adequately addressed in your community plan.

Evaluation Activities

1. Have students compare their land use plans with a local coastal community. students should be able to describe the similarities and differences and explain why their plans may be better community designs.
2. Have students write a response to a special interest group that has complained that its interest was not adequately addressed in a student's community plan.

Ethical Concerns

• To what extent is the land use planner obligated to fairly meet the needs of all interests?
• To what extent does the employing agency of the land use planner have influence on the plan (favoritism on behalf of the agency's interests)?

Home Learning Suggestions

Extensions

• Have students expand their plans to include nearby offshore areas and include oil exploration and kelp harvesting among the development interests. Have them add these areas and facilities for these interests to their maps.
• Ask students to suppose that after their plans had been developed the local residents found tourism to be objectionable and voted to remove hotels and tourist-oriented facilities. However could their plans be modified to accommodate these changes, an how would they compensate for the economic loss of the tourist industry (loss of jobs, income base, and tax revenues)?

Note:

Mr. Lars Helgeson, Science Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education
Linda Vista Road
San Diego, California

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation webmaster@woodrow.org
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