Restoration Center News

The National Estuary Restoration Inventory (NERI) is an online database of habitat restoration projects. The site was deployed on February 16, 2004 and can be accessed at https://neri.noaa.gov. The purpose of the inventory is to: provide information on monitoring and restoration techniques in order to advance the science of restoration, track acres of habitat restored toward the million acre goal of the ERA and provide information for reports transmitted to Congress. In addition, the inventory may be a resource for restoration practitioners to monitor the progress of their own restoration projects. Any restoration practitioner may voluntarily submit eligible restoration projects for entry into the inventory using an online submission form. Eligible projects must aim to provide ecosystem benefits for estuaries and their associated ecosystems and include monitoring to gauge the success of restoration efforts.

A request for public comments has been published in the Federal Register and NOAA is currently accepting comments on: (a) the usability of the site for entering, updating, and viewing information on estuary habitat restoration projects; (b) the types of information being tracked, including comments on specific fields and/or suggestions for additional/fewer fields; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information presented; and (d) other suggestions that would make the site more user-friendly. Written comments can be submitted via email at neri@noaa.gov or mailed directly to Nancy Lou, NOAA Damage Assessment and Restoration Center, 7600 Sand Point Way, Seattle, WA 98115-6349.

Comments due March 26, 2004