NOAA AWARDS $1.7 MILLION GRANT TO RESTORE AMERICA’S ESTUARIES
Fisheries Habitat to be Restored in 11 Estuaries Nationwide

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), an agency of the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Restore America’s Estuaries today announced a $1.7 million grant to continue their three-year partnership to restore habitat vital to the conservation of America's coastal fisheries. Together, NOAA and Restore America’s Estuaries will provide more than $3.4 million this year for projects in 11 estuaries nationwide.

“We are constantly working to improve our environment and to strengthen local and regional initiatives in coastal habitat restoration,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Our partnership with Restore America’s Estuaries allows us to collaborate with local communities to identify problems and repair fisheries habitat, reinforcing NOAA’s and the Bush Administration’s commitment to the environment.”

The award will allow Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) to continue implementing habitat restoration projects to benefit marine, estuarine and riparian habitats in 11 major estuaries of the Gulf of Maine, Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, Hudson-Raritan Estuary, Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, Tampa Bay, Louisiana's Mississippi Delta, Galveston Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Puget Sound.

RAE’s mission is to preserve the nation’s network of estuaries by protecting and restoring the lands and waters essential to the richness and diversity of coastal life. Past projects funded through the NOAA Fisheries partnership with RAE include small projects that foster environmental stewardship, large-scale hydrologic marsh restorations, and citizen-driven dam removals.

“The partnership has been tremendously successful, engaging more than 75,000 community volunteers in hundreds of restoration efforts,” said Mark Wolf-Armstrong, president of Restore America's Estuaries.

In fiscal year 2003, NOAA has awarded more than 475 grants totaling more than $204 million 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 goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 33 years.

NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program (CRP), a financial and technical assistance program within the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation, promotes strong partnerships at the national, regional and local level to fund grassroots, community-based activities. The NOAA-funded projects provide strong on-the-ground habitat restoration components that offer educational and social benefits for people and their communities in addition to long-term ecological benefits for fishery resources. More information about the CRP can be found at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and to providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit http://www.noaa.gov.

Since 1995, Restore America's Estuaries has worked closely with community, private, and governmental organizations to preserve the extraordinary heritage of our nation's estuaries. Restore America's Estuaries members are: American Littoral Society, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Conservation Law Foundation, Galveston Bay Foundation, North Carolina Coastal Federation, People for Puget Sound, Save San Francisco Bay Association, Save The Bay - Narragansett Bay, Save the Sound - Long Island Sound, and Tampa BayWatch. To learn more about Restore America's Estuaries, please visit http://www.estuaries.org.