Assistant Secretary Scarlett Presents Coastal America Designation to North Carolina Aquarium

(KURE BEACH, N.C.) - In a ceremony today at Kure Beach, North Carolina, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett presented the North Carolina Aquariums with Coastal America's prestigious national designation as a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center. Together with Benjamin Grumbles, EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, Scarlett announced that the aquariums will become the nation's 18th Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center. Other dignitaries in attendance included U.S. Representative Mike McIntyre and North Carolina Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Bill Ross.

"The Bush Administration is firmly committed to ocean and coastal issues," Scarlett noted. "The Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center network connects with more than 20 million people each year, educating them about the function and value of coastal resources."

Coastal America, an interagency federal partnership, established the Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center network in 1996. Coastal America works to protect, preserve and restore the nation's coastal ecosystems through its 13 federal partners, 18 learning centers, and more than 800 state, local and corporate partners. Learning centers such as the new one in North Carolina are selected to serve as regional educational centers that work closely with the federal partners to educate the public about the value of coastal resources.

The North Carolina Aquariums are a division of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The new North Carolina center is the first Coastal America Learning Center with multiple facilities. Two of the facilities, located at Fort Fisher and Roanoke Island, received the designation today. The third facility, located at Pine Knoll Shores, will receive the designation when it reopens after renovations are completed, in spring 2006.

"We're delighted to be included in this forward-thinking network," said David Griffin, director of the North Carolina Aquariums Division. "This designation will make it possible for us to deliver our conservation message to far more people, far more effectively, than ever before."

The federal partnership provides the North Carolina Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center with a wide variety of resources, including research vessel time, expert speakers, educational publications, lesson plans, exhibit materials, films and more.

To learn more about Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers and Coastal America, visit www.coastalamerica.gov. To learn more about the Department of Interior's work related to oceans, see also http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/ocean.html.