Outreach & Extension: Coastal Zone Management

As part of the federal Coastal Zone Management (CZM) program, Sea Grant partners with Maryland's Coastal Program under the Department of Natural Resources to bring financial and technical assistance to communities. This partnership aims to promote the incorporation of natural resource and/or coastal management issues (e.g., coastal hazards, public access, water-use activities) into local planning and permitting activities. This Coastal Communities Initiative gives municipalities and counties in Maryland an opportunity to submit proposals on innovative community projects. To ensure adequate assistance and guidance throughout the project, Maryland's Coastal Program, Maryland Sea Grant, and other partners review these proposals and assist communities depending on need and available resources.

Maryland Sea Grant also joined with Maryland's Coastal Program to produce four outdoor education panels that describe the arrival of Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 in different parts of the state. The panels present eyewitness accounts, while offering additional information about shoreline erosion, runoff from impervious surfaces, climate change and sea level rise. These four education panels won a 2006 Apex Grand Award for writing and design.