The Washington Shoreline Management Act of 1971

Authors

Geoffrey Crooks, University of Washington School of Law

Abstract

With approval of the Shoreline Management Act of 1971 (SMA), Washington has joined the increasing ranks of states which are attempting to influence legislatively the course of development of their coastal resources. The Washington Act, unusually broad in scope, concerns not merely "coastal" areas but also shorelines of bodies of water of virtually every description, including lakes and streams so small or so obscure as to be nameless. This article, after briefly describing the circumstances of the SMA's enactment and the prior law, examines and evaluates (to the extent possible based on two years of operation) the resource management program established by the Act.

First Page

423

Recommended Citation

Geoffrey Crooks, The Washington Shoreline Management Act of 1971, 49 Wash. L. Rev. 423 (1974).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol49/iss2/5