| Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project NOAA NMFS Southwest Region Habitat Conservation Division (HCD) is currently providing leadership as the Chair of the Wetlands Manager’s Group for the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project (WRP). The WRP is a broadly based partnership with 18 state and federal agencies working in concert with scientists, local governments, and environmental organizations, as well as business leaders and educators to increase the pace and effectiveness of wetlands recovery efforts in southern California. The WRP’s geographic scope is from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County to the international border with Mexico. Using a non-regulatory approach and an ecosystem perspective, the WRP collaborates to identify wetland acquisition and restoration priorities, prepare plans for these priority sites, pool funds to undertake these projects, implement priority plans, and oversee post-project maintenance and monitoring. Every two years, the WRP solicits and evaluates proposals and adopts a Work Plan that lists priority acquisition, restoration, and enhancement projects. Annually, this Work Plan is updated to include community-based restoration projects for the WRP Small Grants Program. The adopted Work Plan is a valuable tool for communicating regional priorities, funding needs and facilitating agency collaboration. The WRP recently adopted the 2008-2009 Work Plan that lists 82 priority acquisition, restoration, and enhancement projects. To date, the WRP has spent more than $500 million dollars enhanced over 800 acres of wetland habitat and protected over 2,700 acres of coastal wetlands and watersheds. Major projects include coastal bay and lagoon habitat restoration, increasing fish passage opportunities, stream restoration, and invasive species eradication and control. In addition, HCD helped facilitate the formation of a three-year partnership between the WRP and the NMFS Habitat Restoration Center. The first-year funding allocation to this partnership is over $400,000 with the expectation that an additional funds will be allocated over the second and third years. Back To Southern California Coastal and Estuarine Page 07/18/08 |
Click Here to Learn More About the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project |
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