III.C. Socioeconomic Environment

Population and Employment

The mid-Atlantic coastal region considered in this EIS for employment and population analysis consists of 64 counties and independent cities stretching from Plymouth County, Massachusetts to Carteret County, North Carolina (see Table III.C.1). Although population in the region declined by 2 percent between 1970 and 1980, the region remains the most populous area in the country with approximately 11 percent of the total U.S. population. Ninetythree percent of the region's 24.4 million people are concentrated in a series of contiguous metropolitan areas stretching from Massachusetts to Delaware. A second concentration (1.1 million people) is located in the Tidewater, Virginia metropolitan area. The remaining 3 percent of the population is scattered in rural and agricultural areas throughout the region. Population growth and population density vary greatly within the region. Population growth reflects a national trend of large decreases in the inner areas of large metropolitan areas coupled with large increases in the outer suburban counties, and moderate growth in rural areas (see Table III.C.1). Population density in the region ranges from 139,000 per square mile in downtown Manhattan (highest in the nation) to 10 per square mile in Hyde County, North Carolina.

The economy of the region is characterized by a hierarchy of urban centers with highly developed and integrated economies producing for both local consumption and export. In addition, the region contains a small but important agricultural sector.

Total employment in the region is approximately 10.6 million or about 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce. As with population, employment characteristics vary drastically within the region. The inner areas of the large metropolitan centers are characterized largely by service-based employment. Manufacturing employment in these inner areas account for only about 20 percent of total employment (slightly less than the national average). In the outer areas of the metropolitan centers, manufacturing employment is predominant, generally accounting for about 30 percent of total employment (about 40 percent above the national average).

Agricultural employment in the region accounts for less than 1 percent of total employment, but accounts for more than 5 percent of total employment in 10 counties. Agricultural employment in the region is concentrated in the Delmarva Peninsula, New Jersey, and New York. The Delmarva Peninsula area accounted for slightly less than 44 percent of the region's $1.4 billion in 1978 agricultural production.

Unemployment rates in the region ranged from a low of 3.0 percent in Nantucket County, Massachusetts to 15.1 percent in Cape May, New Jersey. Only 9 counties (14 percent) reported unemployment above the 9.5 percent national level, while over a third of the counties and cities in the region reported unemployment rates of less than 75 percent of the national average.

Sources: 1.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce. U.S. Census Bureau. 1980. General population

characteristics.

3.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce. U.S. Census Bureau. 1980. General social and economic characteristics.

Comprised predominantly of sand beaches and barrier islands, the general coastline of the mid-Atlantic extends for about 1,000 mi from Cape Cod, Massachusetts past Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (Bureau of the Census, 1983). Barrier islands, commonly less than a mile in width, separate ocean-facing beaches from the mainland throughout much of the area. Examples include Fire Island in New York, Long Beach Island in New Jersey, Fenwick Island in Delaware and Maryland, Assateague Island extending from Maryland to Virginia, and Hatteras Island in North Carolina. These barrier islands combine with other natural features such as estuaries, bays, and inlets to create over 15,000 mi of tidal shoreline (Bureau of the Census, 1983). In addition to the ocean-facing beaches, this shoreline includes pocket beaches, mudflats, marshes, swamps, and dense resort developments. Coastline and Shoreline of Affected States (in mi)

Table III.C.2-1.

SOURCE: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Statistical abstract of the United States, 1982-83,
P. 202.

Opportunities are plentiful for such water-dependent recreational activities as swimming, boating, scuba diving, and beach combing. The diversity of natural features also produces a variety of marine and terrestrial resources which are harvested by water-dependent recreational activities such as fishing. The popularity of recreational marine fishing is indicated by an estimated annual number of participants approaching 7 million for the States in Table III.C.2-2. Another recreational activity which harvests natural resources is hunting. While not dependent upon proximity to the coast, hunting is enhanced by the proliferation of wildlife found in the coastal environment. Non-consumptive forms of wildlife-associated recreation such as bird watching and nature interpretation are also quite popular, engaged in by approximately half of the area's population (FWS, 1980). Examples of other recreational activities which are not dependent upon the shore but enhanced by it include camping and picnicking.