nerrs.noaa.gov - Stewardship

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a partnership of NOAA and coastal states to study and protect vital coastal and estuarine resources.

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Reserve research and monitoring programs provide a robust foundation for effective national, regional, and local coastal zone management.

System-Wide + Overview of Research & Monitoring + System-wide Monitoring Program + NERRS Science Collaborative Opportunities + Graduate Research Fellowships		Resources + Research & Monitoring Data + Research Monitoring Products + Research Partners + Contact Research Coordinators Reserve-based + Reserve Research

Graduate Fellows use reserves as living laboratories to address coastal management needs in the natural and social sciences.

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Reserves provide educational & outreach activities that advance estuary literacy and engage educators, students and the general public to practice coastal stewardship.

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The Coastal Training Program provides science-based information and training to support those who make decisions that affect coastal resources.

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Reserve Stewardship programs integrate science, monitoring and communities to protect, manage, and restore coastal habitats.

System-Wide + Ecological Changes + Water Quality + Habitat Alteration Opportunities + Restoration + Mapping + Land Acquisition		Resources + Habitat Mapping and Change + Restoration Science + Land Acquisition + Publications Reserve-based + Reserve Stewardship

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The National Estuarine Research Reserve System protects more than 1.3 million acres in 28 reserves in 22 states and Puerto Rico.

Northeast + Wells, ME + Great Bay, NH + Waquoit Bay, MA + Narragansett Bay, RI + Hudson River, NY Mid Atlantic + Jacques Cousteau, NJ + Delaware + Chesapeake Bay, MD + Chesapeake Bay, VA Southeast + North Carolina + North Inlet-Winyah, SC + ACE Basin, SC + Sapelo Island, GA + GTM, FL		Great Lakes + Old Woman Creek, OH + Lake Superior, WI Caribbean + Jobos Bay, PR Gulf of Mexico + Rookery Bay, FL + Apalachicola, FL + Weeks Bay, AL + Grand Bay, MS + Mission-Aransas, TX West Coast + Kachemak Bay, AK + Padilla Bay, WA + South Slough, OR + San Francisco, CA + Elkhorn Slough, CA + Tijuana River, CA

Home > Stewardship

Stewardship

Water Quality

Watershed Management Planning

An important component of the reserve stewardship mission is to address impacts from land-based sources of marine pollution on reserve habitats. Yet, while reserve stewardship programs target site-specific priorities, the strategies demonstrate innovative approaches that have broader regional applicability.

Watershed management is typically governed by plans approved by local or state governments. Reserves support local planning processes and engage land owners in adopting good stewardship practices based on sound science. Towards this end, reserves apply a diversity of strategies such as applying geospatial data and decision support tools to raise awareness of development trends and past and projected future impacts, working with targeted land owners to evaluate and implement best management strategies, and using science and mapping to model ecologically valuable stream habitat for protected anadromous fish. The following stewardship case studies reflect some of the activities conducted by stewardship staff in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

Stewardship Stories

Old Woman Creek - Interdisciplinary Planning for Stewardship in the Old Woman Creek Watershed
Wells - Application of NSPECT and Habitat Priority Planner
Weeks Bay - Watershed Planning at the Weeks Bay NERR
Mission Aransas - Community Viz - Suite of Tools to Support Watershed Planning
Kachemak Bay - Headwater Stream Project

Last Updated on: Monday, November 02, 2009


Reserve Stewardship ACE Basin, SC Apalachicola, FL Chesapeake Bay, MD Chesapeake Bay, VA Delaware Elkhorn Slough, CA Grand Bay, MS Great Bay, NH GTM, FL Hudson River, NY Jacques Cousteau, NJ Kachemak Bay, AK Mission-Aransas, TX Narragansett Bay, RI North Carolina North Inlet-Winyah, SC Old Woman Creek, OH Padilla Bay, WA Rookery Bay, FL San Francisco, CA Sapelo Island, GA South Slough, OR Tijuana River, CA Waquoit Bay, MA Weeks Bay, AL Wells, ME Ecological Changes Invasive Species Species of Concern Fire Management Water Quality Water Quality Monitoring Watershed Management Habitat Alteration Habitat Mapping Habitat Restoration Land Use & Habitat Change Restoration Restoration One-Pager Mapping Land acquisition Habitat Mapping and Change NERRS Mapping Plan Classification System Classification Scheme Implementation Protocols Restoration Science Land Acquisition Publications
	For more information contact Nina.Garfield@noaa.gov