Perceptions of the performance of state coastal zone management programs in the United States

Evaluative data on the performance of state coastal zone management (CZM) programs in the United States typically have not been available, though the U.S. coastal management program is more than 20 years old. This article reports the results of a mail survey on perceptions of the performance of CZM programs by three samples of coastal interests: coastal program managers (N = 23), coastal interest groups (N = 200), and knowledgeable academics (N = 36). Perceptions of performance were solicited on four major coastal management issues: protection of coastal resources, management of coastal development, improved public access, and reduction of losses due to coastal hazards. While all three samples perceived the importance of various coastal issues in the same way, there were considerable differences among the three samples on their perceptions of program performance. In addition, there does not seem to be any significant relationship between program structure and perceived program performance. In general, coastal user groups and coastal academics believed that state CZM programs were performing ''well.''