Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Marine Extension in Action

Publication Date

2005

Abstract/ Summary

Although sandy beaches represent only about one percent of Maine's 3500-mile coastline, they are vitally important to the state's economy as recreational resources, provide crucial wildlife habitat, and buffer the coast against storms. However, many of Maine's beaches are threatened, mainly by erosion from coastal engineering and natural forces. Engineering structures-such as jetties and seawalls-built to create navigable harbors and protect, beachfront property, may impact the recreational beach. They can interfere with the natural distribution of sand and cause beaches to erode more rapidly or sand to accumulate in unwanted places. Some towns try, often without success, to fix their beaches by dredging sand from one place and dumping it in another.

Version

post-print (i.e. final draft post-refereeing with all author corrections and edits)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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