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Abstract
As climate change threatens to intensify the frequency and strength of coastal storms, and populations and development in these areas increase, the need for enhanced resiliency is paramount. Salt marshes and wetlands act as a natural buffer between hazardous storms and coastal communities, and as the sea level rises they will migrate in a landward direction. This migration, however, can be impeded by human development. This study analyses the costs and benefits of pre-emptively protecting open space to facilitate the migration of wetlands for a coastal county in Georgia based on projections of wetland migration and predicted locations of new development 30 years into the future.