The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration granted $635,000 to the Washington State Department of Ecology to fund the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The award will support on-site operations, monitoring, research, education and stewardship activities of the bay. The funding will result in a completed site profile including updated aerial photography, support to host the NERR education sector meeting and support of graduate research assistants. The department also plans to remove creosote logs from tidal areas, create maps of eelgrass beds and the invasive Spartina plant in the reserve’s benthic habitats, and provide education programs that reach over 14,000 participants and coastal decision makers throughout Washington State.

“Funding from this NOAA grant will help protect Padilla Bay and its valuable eelgrass beds needed to keep it a vibrant estuary,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This grant allows the state to manage its coastal resources with the help of NOAA and the Bush Administration.”

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.

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