Future Prospects

My research leads me to believe that Big Sur has a relatively positive future. The human impact has been kept to a very minimum, which is rare for an area so naturally beautiful. Due to the hard work of the long time residents and Monterey County, I don't see this changing in the near future. Also the introduction of the protected areas in 2007 due to legislature is a sign that protection of the area is increasing. The dangers I foresee lie mainly in climate change, which affects the entire world.

In order to maintain this positive conservation and preservation, the land use rules must be upheld by the County of Monterey. The protected areas must remain so, which is uncertain due to the recession and California's budget crisis. The government must make protecting our earth a priority if areas like Big Sur are to persist.

Below is a table to summarize my research; it briefly describes the effect of each environmental impact I deemed possibly significant (left) and on the top lists important elements of the intertidal zone. This table shows that climate change is indeed the most threatening environmental hazard to the Big Sur intertidal region, followed by offshore drilling.