Surfing group gives Florida a ‘D’ for coastal management

A nonprofit surfing and conservation group gave Florida a "D" in coastal management, because the state keeps allowing homes too close to the ocean, relies too much on seawalls and beach renourishment to guard them, and is ill-prepared for sea-level rise.

The Surfrider Foundation found that 74% of coastal and Great Lakes states, in addition to Puerto Rico, earned "C", "D" or "F" grades and are therefore doing a "mediocre to poor" job or are entirely failing to protect the nation’s coasts. Only 26% of states earned above a "C" when graded on policies to protect the nation’s coastlines.

Surfrider’s 2019 State of the Beach Report analyzed 31 U.S. coastal and Great Lakes states, and Puerto Rico. The group graded on government response to erosion and sea-level rise based on 12 criteria separated into four major categories of sediment management, development, coastal armoring and sea-level rise.