Assessing perceptions about ecosystem health and restoration options in three east coast estuaries

Increasingly public and governmental agencies are concerned about revitalizing coastal environments. Understanding how the public uses these areas, and what they see as the most important improvements to these regions is critical to their assessment and management. Uses of three estuaries, and perceptions of possible management and restoration options, were examined for people who were interviewed in the New York/New Jersey Harbor, Manasquan Inlet, and Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Nearly 90% of the people interviewed listed pollution as New Jersey's most important environmental problem. Most people (68%) used the habitat for outdoor sports, but rated communing with nature, walking, and the provision of open 'green' space as the most valued uses. Pollution prevention was the most often mentioned habitat improvement desired, and people rated removing pollution, cleaning up garbage, and creating more fish breeding habitat the highest. There were significant locational differences in how people used the estuaries, and in how they thought they should be improved. People from Barnegat Bay ranked most uses higher than did people from elsewhere, while the people from Manasquan Inlet rated the importance of most remediation and restoration actions higher. Many of the improvements fall within environmental management, including (rank order from high to low) creating more fish breeding habitat, improving native vegetation, improving habitat for birds, increasing plant diversity, improving habitat for butterflies, and enlarging adjacent marshes. The data provide clear support for the importance of these coastal habitats for communing with nature and having open 'green space' spaces, and for providing recreational opportunities. To enhance their value, people want to remove pollution and improve both the habitat quality and the educational and recreational facilities.