The Bay Journal: “More Coastal Land along the Bay Could Get Federal ‘Protection’"
RFF Senior Fellow Margaret Walls shares her thoughts on how changes to the Coastal Barriers Resources System will affect the Chesapeake region.
Indeed, undeveloped lands tend to stay that way after receiving the Coastal Barrier designation. Such properties were developed at an 85% lower density compared with similar tracts not included in the program, according to an analysis by Resources for the Future, a nonpartisan thinktank devoted to environmental issues.
“They’re kind of like conservation lands now,” said Margaret Walls, one of the report’s authors.
On the flip side, the study showed that the Coastal Barrier program increased development by 20% on lands just outside its boundaries. Walls and her colleagues chalked that up to the flood-protection benefits and parklike amenities offered by the program lands.
