What's in the News . . .

OCRM Staff Discuss CZM Program with Illinois Governor’s Office (August 2009)

OCRM staff met last week with staff for Illinois’ new Governor Pat Quinn to discuss the development of the Illinois Coastal Management Program for NOAA approval.  As Lt. Governor, Quinn had encouraged the development of the State’s program, and now as Governor has indicated that the approval of Illinois Coastal Program will be a priority.  OCRM staff discussed several outstanding issues with program with the primary concern that the program have a clear identity and role in setting the priorities for addressing coastal issues in the State.

Illinois, which has been working to develop a coastal zone management program for several years, is the only coastal state that is currently not participating in the National Coastal Zone Management Program.  The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy called for all 35 eligible states and territories to participate in the CZM Program.

Contact:  Diana.Olinger@noaa.gov, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (CPD), 301-713-3155 ext. 149.

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MPA Center Begins Second Nominations for National System of MPAs (August 2009)

On August 6, the MPA Center officially started the second process of nominating eligible federal, state and territorial sites to be included in the National System of Marine Protected Areas.  Using existing information from the MPA Inventory, the MPA Center identified sites that meet entry criteria for inclusion, as detailed in the Framework for the National System of Marine Protected Areas.  A first round of nominations was held in Fall 2008, and resulted in an initial group of 225 sites accepted into the national system.  Nominations for the second round are due to the MPA Center by November 6.  MPAs newly accepted into the national system will be publicly announced by the MPA Center, and will be added to the List of National System MPAs.

Contact: Lauren.Wenzel@noaa.gov, OCRM (MPAC), 301-563-1136

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NOAA Awards Grant for Coastal Research Program at UNH (August 2009)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded a $5.2 million grant to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to establish a new program that will support coastal zone research to provide decision-makers with appropriate science and technology to address critical issues in the coastal zone, with an emphasis on issues directly related to the impacts of climate change.

The new program will be launched in fall 2009, and the awardees will work with NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) to sponsor collaborative research, engagement, education, and adaptive management, with the goal of developing and applying science-based tools to address the impacts of coastal pollution and habitat degradation related to climate change.

According to Laurie McGilvray, chief of NOAA’s Estuarine Reserves Division, the program will comprise four elements:

  1. A collaborative, multidisciplinary, competitive research program targeting projects that advance the application of technology to address land use issues, habitat change and restoration, and estuarine contamination;
  2. A nationally relevant educational program that integrates university-based training and applied research experience at NERRS sites to link research to application, decision making and policy;
  3. A strategy to engage coastal science translation specialists and potential users of program-sponsored research in the dissemination of program-sponsored technology and information; and
  1. A national needs assessment to find barriers and identify solutions to implement effective stormwater research and management, in partnership with the NERRS.

Dr. Richard Langan, currently co-director of the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), will head the UNH team that will implement the new program. Other members of the team will also come from CICEET, which is also a NOAA-UNH partnership.

Dr. Dwight Trueblood of NOAA’s Estuarine Reserves Division will manage the project for NOAA.

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OCRM Participates in LA Smart Growth Summit (August 2009)

OCRM staff participated in the 4th annual Louisiana Smart Growth Summit in Baton Rouge, LA, August 26-28.  The Summit, sponsored by the Center for Planning Excellence, brings together several hundred state and local officials, planners and Smart Growth practitioners.  OCRM’s Kenneth Walker presented on the Coastal and Waterfront Smart Growth Elements developed by NOAA, EPA, RI Sea Grant and the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA) on a panel entitled “Coastal Planning for Louisiana.”  Other panelists included Garret Graves of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activity and Dr. Robert Twilley of the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University. 

Contact: Kenneth.Walker@noaa.gov, 301-563-1157, OCRM (NPED)

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South Slough Reserve Celebrates 35th Anniversary (July 2009)

Dr. Jane Lubchenco helped the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve celebrate its 35th anniversary last week during her first trip back to Oregon since taking office as NOAA Administrator in April. Dr. Lubchenco joined a large contingent of state environmental agency leaders, as well as NOAA and reserve staff and local volunteers and other friends of the reserve.

Lubchenco praised the reserve’s leadership and staff as well as state partners for its contributions to scientific understanding of coastal issues and providing a science basis for management decisions.

“South Slough Reserve can look back with pride on 35 years of service to the region and the nation, and join the Reserve System and NOAA in looking ahead to the issues and challenges before us,” Lubchenco said.

“The key to success here, past and future, is the strength of the partnerships between NOAA and the State of Oregon, and with all the local partners, including cities, counties, tribes and non-governmental organizations,” she added.

Participants in the celebration explored the reserve on a 1.2 mile hike down the North Creek Watershed Trail and a three-mile cruise on a local oyster barge. Guests also visited the nearby Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and heard a presentation on the Oregon state shell, the Oregon Hairy Triton (Fusitriton oregonensis) by Dr. Craig Young, director of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

Reserve staff members and volunteers provided overviews of the research, monitoring, education, stewardship and training programs at various way points on the hike and the boat ride.

South Slough Reserve was the first in the nation to be designated under the original Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. That law provided for the establishment of estuarine sanctuaries to protect coastal areas for purposes of research, education and stewardship. Subsequent revisions to the act changed the name to “reserves.” The National Estuarine Research Reserve System now has 27 reserves protecting more than 1.3 million acres of estuarine lands and waters around the nation.

Even as Congress was discussing sanctuaries as a way to protect coastal ecosystems and habitats, local and state officials in Oregon were discussing how to protect the southern arm of Coos Bay on the state’s southern coast. Some of the early proponents of what became the South Slough Estuarine Sanctuary in 1974 were in attendance at the July 11 event.

They included Bob Younker, who grew up on the shores of South Slough and guided state officials on early visits to the area; Bob Bailey, now the director of the Oregon Coastal Program; Carl Brenna, retired as finance director of the Division of State Lands; and Bill Bradbury, who recently ended two terms as Secretary of State, after previously serving 14 years in the Oregon Legislature.

Also attending was Louise Solliday, director of the Oregon Department of State Lands, NOAA’s partner in managing the reserve; Kate Brown, Oregon Secretary of State and a member of the State Land Board; and Warren Brainerd, Chief of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians.

South Slough Reserve was the first reserve designated after passage of the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act. It has provided a model and leadership for other reserves and for the reserve system as a whole, for its research, education and stewardship programs, and for the strength of the partnership between NOAA and the Oregon Department of State Lands.

Contact: George.Cathcart@noaa.gov, 301.713.3155 x141. NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (ERD).

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Massachusetts Releases its draft Ocean Management Plan (July 2009)

On June 30, 2009, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released its draft Ocean Management Plan.  The Massachusetts Oceans Act of 2008 required the EEA Secretary to develop a comprehensive ocean management plan to manage development in state waters, balancing natural resource preservation with traditional and new uses, including renewable energy.  Since May 2008, EEA, the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program, part of the federal-state National Coastal Zone Management Partnership, two advisory commissions, and many other interested parties have engaged in an intensive scientific and stakeholder process.  The resulting plan relies on a combination of designated-area and performance standard-based management.  Three categories of management areas: Prohibited, Regional Energy, and Multi-use, have been created and are applied to Massachusetts Ocean Waters.  Certain areas or uses, such as unique natural resources or important existing water-dependent uses, are given enhanced protection by their designations when considering new uses or activities.  However, the majority of state waters in the planning area remain open to uses, activities and facilities, as provided under other existing State law.  Review and public comment on the draft will occur over the next several months; the final plan must be promulgated by December 31, 2009.  OCRM has provided financial assistance to the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program to support developing the draft plan and has provided guidance to the state on federal requirements for ocean plan development.

Ocean planning, especially in light of the growing interest in off-shore renewable energy and Obama’s recent proclamation, National Policy for the Oceans, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, is an increasingly important priority for NOAA and the National Coastal Management Program. Through the National Coastal Management Program, OCRM works with and enables our state partners to actively pursue ocean planning activities. 

Contact: Elisabeth.Morgan@noaa.gov, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (CPD) 301-563-1166.

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SF Bay Commission Announces Winners of Innovative Sea Level Rise Design Competition (July 2009)

On July 15, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), part of the National Coastal Zone Management Program, announced six winners of their “Rising Tides” design competition to spur ideas for addressing adaptation to sea level rise in San Francisco Bay. The winners will share a $25,000 prize.  One winner proposed increasing public awareness of sea level rise by installing a temporary wall of light around the city, to show the height of levees needed to adapt to sea level rise. Another winner designed a project that would seal off the entire Bay during extreme high tide events.  To view the winners and other projects visit http://www.risingtidescompetition.com/risingtides/Home.html. 

The design competition was part of BCDC’s Coastal Enhancement Strategy to adapt and prepare for sea level rise in the Bay region. Under Section 309 of the Coastal Zone Management Act, coastal states develop five-year Coastal Enhancement Strategies to address pressing coastal management issues. OCRM worked with BCDC to develop its strategy and provided BCDC with $125,000 of Coastal Zone Enhancement Program funding to implement it.

Contact: Matt.Gove@noaa.gov, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (CPD) 301-563-1185

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NOAA Model Predicts Bleaching in Caribbean (July 2009)

Last July, NOAA released a new experimental prediction system using NOAA experimental sea surface temperature forecasts to develop seasonal maps and guidance of anticipated coral bleaching. The July 2009 NOAA Coral Reef Watch Coral Bleaching Thermal Stress Outlook indicates that there is significant potential for higher than normal thermal stress in the Caribbean in 2009, especially in the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico.  The system suggests that other areas of concern in 2009 are the central Pacific region including the equatorial Line Islands and Kiribati.  Some thermal stress may also develop between the Northern Marianas Islands and Japan.  High thermal stress, or continued high temperatures, can cause coral bleaching and infectious disease outbreaks.  The thermal stress outlooks are available online.

While NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program has traditionally used satellite sea surface temperature data to alert managers and scientists around the world of the risk of coral bleaching, the new prediction system includes longer range temperature forecasts up to three-months. The new system was developed by scientists at NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch in Silver Spring, MD and NOAA’s Earth Science Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., with funding from the NOAA Climate Program Office’s Sectoral Applications Research Program and NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program

Contact: Mark.Eakin@noaa.gov, NESDIS (Coral Reef Watch), (301) 713-2857 x109; or Lauren.Chhay@noaa.gov, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (CRCP), (301) 713-3155 x120.

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