Brevard's Beaches

Brevard County is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. These beaches consist of soft sand and sparkling blue waters. Beaches provide the perfect combination of relaxation and recreation. Unfortunately, the hurricane season of 2004 eroded a vast amount of the shoreline leaving a number of beach-side structures threatened by beach erosion. Brevard County has an active beach and coastal management program to restore and maintain healthy beaches and dunes. To learn more about this program click on the following link.

Building Back Brevard’s Beaches

http://www.brevardcounty.us/environmental_management/bbbb_home.cfm

Fun Beach Facts!

Brevard's beaches represent an important part of a $625 million local tourist economy.

69% of visitors surveyed in the Brevard County Summer Tourist Profile ranked the beaches as an important feature of their visit.

Beaches absorb the main punch of storm surges limiting most damage to oceanfront structures.

Why is this important?

• Because more than 60% of Florida’s population lives within 5 miles of the coast (1995) & more than $25 billion or approximately 25% of the value of Florida’s Coastal Real Estate can be attributed to beaches.**

• A stable beach and dune system provides the first line of defense against storms. The barrier island performs valuable protective functions for life and property. *
• Reductions in the density of dune line development decrease the economic burden placed on coastal communities for post-storm re-development and storm insurance. **
• The planting of dune vegetation such as sea oats helps to reduce the effects of erosion by holding the sand together with their roots. After the 2004 Hurricane season sea oats sales have increased by 600%.
• Beach tourists in Florida spend approximately $7.9 billion each year, which creates a ripple effect of $15.4 billion per year and the creation of 359,450 jobs.**
• For every $1 that the Federal, State, and Local Governmenta put into a beach nourishment project, there is a return of $1 to $7 on the initial investment. ***
• Brevard County’s beaches are responsible for a large portion of the County’s revenue. Below are some interesting beach tourism facts.

Beach fueled Tourism ****

• Compared with the average traveler, beach travelers take longer vacations and spend more money.
• Beach vacations generate $850 per trip and half include shopping along with other beach activities.
• Nearly 4 out of every 10 US households visit beaches.
• 23 million tourists visiting Florida reported that its beaches were the primary reason for their vacation choice.

References for Beaches

http://www.fws.gov/archiecarr*

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/acquisition/P2000/ECONOMIC.htm **

www.netlobby.com/pdf/value_of_beaches.pdf ***

http://fsbpa.com/BEACHWATCH.pdf ****

What is the Natural Resource Management Office doing to protect Brevard’s beaches?

http://www.brevardcounty.us/environmental_management/bbbb_home.cfm