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Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

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700<br />

Estuarine andCoastal Management -Toolsof<strong>the</strong> Abstract only<br />

Trade. Proceedingsof <strong>the</strong> Tenth <strong>National</strong> Conference<br />

of TheCoastal Society. October12-15,19<strong>86</strong>. New<br />

Orleans,LA. Copyrightby TheCoastalSociety<br />

1987.<br />

HAZARDOUS WASTES, TURTLES, ANDTHE BEACH:<br />

THE FUTURE OFPADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE<br />

Alan D. Risenhoover, Robert B. Ditton, and James H. Gramann<br />

DepartmentofRecreationand Parb<br />

Texas A&M University<br />

CollegeStation.TX 77843<br />

This paperevaluates <strong>the</strong> risks to users from two external threats at PadreIsland<br />

<strong>National</strong> <strong>Sea</strong>shore, Texas: 1) Barrelswashing ashore,some ofwhich contain potentially<br />

hazardous wastes, and 2) The possibility ofendangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles<br />

fl^nirlnchelvn k£mpj) returningto PadreIsland<strong>National</strong><strong>Sea</strong>shoreto nest By <strong>the</strong> mid<br />

1970'sbarrelswashingashoreat PadreIslandwere increasingly becoming aconcern<br />

becauseof <strong>the</strong> suspectmaterials <strong>the</strong>y contained. Also portions of Padre Islandbeaches<br />

may be closed during<strong>the</strong> monthsofhighestvisitationto protectKemp's ridley seaturtles<br />

that may be nesting. Distributionofuse datawere obtainedthrougha visitor survey during<br />

June,July, August, and September1985. Thesedatawereusedto predictareasof greatest<br />

risk to visitorsfromcontactwith hazardous wastes,andto identify <strong>the</strong>effect of beach<br />

closure on visitation to Padre Island <strong>National</strong> <strong>Sea</strong>shore. Results indicate that <strong>the</strong> risk to<br />

visitors from hazardous wastes is greatestin <strong>the</strong> upper six miles of<strong>the</strong> study area.<br />

Fishermen areexposedto greater levelsof risk in <strong>the</strong>down-island areas thanarebeach<br />

users. If Kemp's ridley seaturtlesreturnto PadreIsland<strong>National</strong><strong>Sea</strong>shoreto nest and <strong>the</strong><br />

beachmust be closedforthis purpose, a higherpercentage of fishermen will be displaced<br />

than will beach users. By determining <strong>the</strong> distributionofuse in a particulararea,managers<br />

arebetterableto quantify<strong>the</strong>effect of external threats. Risk assessments havetraditionally<br />

addressed external threats affecting Ihe health of aspecific population, such asrisks<br />

associated with hazardous wastes. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, it is arguedthatrisk assessments associated<br />

with impactson recreation arealsousefulto managerial decisionmaking.

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