Tax incentives and liability waivers may encourage landowners to provide public access across their land. More than two-thirds of coastal states have published access guides and provide street signs to indicate public access sites. Research and Assessment. Twelve coastal states have focused on legal research into the ownership of coastal lands, streets, and other public rights of way. Such research has resulted in the re-opening of many public accessways after years of neglect.
Coral reefs support a huge recreational diving and tourism industry.
In the public's rush to enjoy the reefs, however, boats have anchored directly on the reefs, and divers and snorklers have walked on the coral, touched it, and in certain parts of the world, actually removed corals and other marine life for sale. These events have inflicted severe damage on the coral reefs. In the United States, coral reefs occur only in the southernmost states and in the Pacific and Caribbean islands. These include the Florida Keys, the Flower Garden Banks off Texas, and significant island reef systems in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and other U.S. possessions in the Pacific Ocean. Restoring coral reefs such as this one in the Florida Keys is one way to address damage caused by ship groundings and anchorings.