HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CHANGES IN THE ESTUARINE SHORELINE OF GATEWAY NATIONAL RECREATION AREA: IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT

Gateway National Recreation Area, located next to highly urbanized New York City, faces many challenges to preserve and protect its natural, cultural, and recreational resources. A detailed estuarine shoreline analysis of the Jamaica Bay portion of the park using high resolution 2006 2-foot orthoimagery revealed 60% natural and 40% human-modified of the roughly 138 kilometers of shoreline. Applying techniques developed and the twenty shoreline classification categories used in the 2006 analysis, detailed shoreline analyses are being undertaken using air photos taken in 1956 and 1974 to quantify where and how the shoreline has changed over the past 50 years. An analysis of the anthropogenic modification of the surrounding upland areas, beach mitigation practices, and storm records of the area for this time period will indicate the relative contributions of natural and human influences on the shoreline. The park was formed in 1972 and has been managing its resources since then. A comparison of the 1956-1974 period and the 1974-2006 period may indicate the effectiveness of the park’s management and provide insights on ways to manage in the future to better restore and protect park resources.