Do you want to know more about what the Coastal America Partnership has been up to in your area? Check out our regional updates.

We invite you to enjoy the new electronic version of Coastal America’s 2012 Winter newsletter!  Please share freely.  We welcome requests from anyone who wishes to be added to our email subscription list. Please contact CoastalAmerica@usda.gov.

For more information about the Partnership, visit www.coastalamerica.gov.

Read the newsletter here.

These students are working in the digital lab, editing their images in Photoshop from what they shot at the Florida Aquarium.

The 2011-2012 Coastal America Ocean Art Contest is inspiring ocean education among teachers and students across the nation! Lauren Tylera and Debbie Stone, liaisons for Coastal America at the Florida Aquarium partnered with art educators Molly Dressel and Linda Galgani from Howard W. Blake High School in Tampa, FL to develop a curriculum that taught students to understand Ocean Literacy from a ‘beyond the classroom’ perspective.

The Florida Aquarium provided free after school access to all Blake High School visual art students enrolled in 2-D Medium classes. The students were encouraged to draw and take photos of the exhibits to help inspire ideas for their art contest submissions. The students provided a weekly journal, research notes and sketches to their teachers as a development process for their final submissions.

Along with field trips to the Aquarium, the students studied examples of artwork from artists that worked within environmental and Ocean Literacy concepts. These artists included Clyde Butcher, David Doubilet, Josh Keyes and John James. Geared with a new found understanding of the Seven Principles of Ocean Literacy and access to the use of the computer and photography labs and Drawing and painting studios at their school, the students created their masterpieces.

Winners at the regional level from each aquarium are currently taking place with a fast approaching March 1 deadline. The winning artwork will then be submitted to the National Art Contest level with winners chosen by Coastal America’s special guest judges. Winners will be announced and awarded during a special ceremony hosted at National Geographic Headquarters in Washington DC on June 7, during Capitol Hill’s Ocean Week! To learn more about the CA art contest and CA news, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow @Coastal_America on Twitter.

To view the curriculum created by the educators at the Florida Aquarium and Blake High School, please visit www.coastalamerica.gov. Also, be sure to read CA’s blog post about how several 6^th grade students in North Carolina applied in-depth ocean literacy education to creating artwork.

The Watsonville project team received the Partnership award for working collaboratively for over four years to acquire 490 acres and initiate numerous restoration projects within the Watsonville slough complex. The team has worked to improve water quality, and habitat for coastal species while maintaining agricultural heritage and economic viability of the community of the Monterey Bay region.  The Watsonville Slough system is the largest freshwater wetlands in Santa Cruz County, and one of the largest in coastal California. The system features six interlinked sloughs and covers approximately 800 acres in and around the city. The slough is a haven for threatened red-legged frogs, endangered California pelicans, at least 10 other bird species of special state concern, while providing winter habitat for raptors and migratory waterfowl.

Terry Corwin, executive director of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, shares the history of the project with guests.Hiking tour of the restored site before the ceremony and reception.

The eleven partners in this project team include; The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, California State Coastal Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, California Wildlife Conservation Board, State Water Resources Control Board, Watsonville Wetlands Watch, Fitz Wetland Education Resource Center, The Nature Conservancy and The California Department of Fish and Game. Congratulations team Watsonville!

The Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance (RBCA), a grass-roots non-profit organization based in Seward, Alaska, received the Spirit award for their efforts on marine debris and beach cleanups over the past several years of removing marine debris from the beaches of Kenai Fjords National Park and adjacent coastline and to better understand marine debris issues. The Park has a long-standing interest in this issue, but has lacked capacity in terms of personnel and an appropriate vessel.  Kenai Fjords National Park and RBCA began a partnership five years ago to address marine debris in the park. The RBCA brought the capacity to perform the work in the form of volunteers and, a vessel, and expertise in marine debris protocols. Over the last six years, this partnership has cataloged and removed thousands of pounds of debris from Kenai Fjords National Park beaches, reducing hazards to marine life, while improving visitor experience and giving Kenai Fjords valuable data on marine debris and rate of accumulation. The project has also yielded an educational video about beach cleanup. Congratulations RBCA!

Ressurection Bay Conservation Alliance at a marine debris cleanup event.

The Coastal America Partnership Award is the highest level award for partnership efforts. This award from the President recognizes outstanding collaborative, multi-agency and multi-stakeholder efforts that leverage and combine resources to accomplish coastal restoration, preservation, protection, and education projects.  The Coastal America Spirit Award recognizes exceptional projects that demonstrate the ‘spirit’ of teamwork for group efforts that are poised to address our challenging coastal issues. For a complete list of our 2011 winners, check out www.coastalamerica.gov. See exclusive photos and updates from CA award ceremonies by finding us on Facebook or following @Coastal_America on Twitter.

Restore America's Estuaries

RAE Honored for Restoration Partnerships and Work on Behalf of Estuaries and Coasts  

(WASHINGTON)- Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) has received the 2011 Coastal America Special Recognition Award for its outstanding efforts to restore and protect the coastal environment.

Coastal America, a collaborative partnership of 16 federal agencies dedicated to better management of coastal resources, recognized Restore America’s Estuaries for its work on behalf of the “vital habitats of our nation’s estuaries,” and for “uniting community, corporate, government, and non-governmental agencies at the national, state, and local levels” that “built partnerships and secured resources to restore and preserve estuarine habitats.”

“We are honored to receive this award, particularly because Coastal America embodies the same collaborative ideals and vision that motivate Restore America’s Estuaries,” said Jeff Benoit, RAE President and CEO.  

Since its founding in 1995, the Restore America’s Estuaries National Alliance of 11 member organizations has raised and leveraged more than $40 million used to fund over 900 coastal restoration and mitigation projects throughout the United States-projects made possible only with the participation and contributions of more than 250,000 volunteers, and hundreds of federal, state, and local partners devoting time, expertise, labor, and funds on behalf of RAE restoration and mitigation projects, notes Benoit.  

Coastal America grants awards in four categories: the Partnership Award for collaborative multi-agency and -stakeholder efforts; Spirit Award, recognizing the “spirit” of teamwork in group efforts; the John H. Chafee Coastal Stewardship Award dedicated to outstanding individuals and their career accomplishments on behalf of the environment; and the Special Recognition Award.   

Restore America’s Estuaries is the sole recipient of the 2011 Special Recognition Award which goes to “extraordinary non-governmental organizations for their demonstrated leadership in protecting and restoring coastal resources and/or increasing public awareness and understanding of coastal and marine issues.”

“Restore America’s Estuaries is an important partner with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program. We work with RAE member organizations on-the-ground to restore and protect coastal habitat and with RAE headquarters to promote awareness of the critical issues facing our coastal resources. Congratulations to RAE for receiving the recognition it richly deserves,” said Dallas Miner, a program specialist with the USFWS Division of Habitat and Resource Conservation.   

“Coastal America’s Award is much-deserved acknowledgment of the key role that Restore America’s Estuaries has played nationally in preserving and restoring our coasts and estuaries over the past sixteen years,” said Tim Dillingham, Executive Director of the American Littoral Society and Board Chair of Restore America’s Estuaries.  

Restore America’s Estuaries is a national alliance of 11 regional, coastal conservation organizations with more than 250,000 volunteer-members dedicated to preserving our nation’s estuaries. RAE members include: American Littoral Society, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Conservation Law Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Galveston Bay Foundation, North Carolina Coastal Federation, People For Puget Sound, Save The Bay-Narragansett Bay, Save The Bay-San Francisco, Save the Sound, a program of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and Tampa Bay Watch.

For more information on Restore America’s Estuaries and its programs and initiatives, go to www.estuaries.org.

 To learn more about Coastal America and its Coastal Awards Program: www.coastalamerica.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1052&Itemid=141

Aerial view of the wetland restoration project site from April 2010, prior to the start of excavation.

Senior Obama Administration Leadership from each of Coastal America’s eight core agencies unanimously agreed upon the slate of 6 National Partnership Awards and one Special Recognition Award. 

Since 1997, the Coastal America Awards Program has recognized outstanding collaborative projects and excellence in leadership for protecting, preserving and restoring the nation’s coastal resources. As always nominations are carefully reviewed by an interagency committee and approved by political leadership representing the Obama Administration. Selection criteria require that successful projects include at least one federal agency partner as well as one non-federal entity, clearly demonstrate the “value added” of the partnership effort, reflect an innovative or unique way of accomplishing stated goals and objectives with positive environmental results, and contribute to the accomplishment of Coastal America’s objectives to restore and protect resources and to increase public awareness of the coastal and marine environment. Congratulations to the 2011 Award winners!

 2011 Partnership Awards

Stonybrook Marsh Restoration Project – Brewster, MA

Long Beach Wetlands Restoration Project – CT

Lincoln Park Wetlands Restoration Project – NJ

Gulf of Mexico Community Based Restoration Project

Ocean Science Program – Seattle Aquarium – WA

Middle Watsonville Water Wetlands Partnership – Watsonville, CA

 2011 Special Recognition Award

Restore America’s Estuaries – VA

To learn more about the individual CA Partnership Award winner’s restoration efforts, please visit http://www.coastalamerica.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1052&Itemid=141.

Aerial view of the wetland restoration project site from June 2011, following completion of supplemental planning.

Stay posted for special updates and announcements from the Coastal America Partnership by finding us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. Check out some of the exciting things we are looking forward to in the upcoming year! Visit www.coastalamerica.gov to learn more.

The 6th grade students in Ms. Spencers class created original artwork depicting their own interpretation of one of the Seven Principles of Ocean Literacy.

When an art teacher at Myrtle Grove Middle School in Wilmington, NC heard about the 2011-2012 Coastal America Ocean Art Contest, she saw it as an uncommon opportunity for her students to learn about the seven principles of Ocean Literacy in a creative way. She didn’t just assign her students an art project, she asked them to put words on paper before they put their brushes to canvas.

Sharon Spencer, a third year art teacher at the middle school focuses on coming up with interdisciplinary projects and assignments. For her sixth grade students, a group of 70, she created a curriculum revolving around the seven principles of Ocean Literacy (http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/literacy.html). Using the Ocean Literacy pamphlet as a learning tool, the students worked in pairs to answer a series of 22 questions about the seven principles featured. 

Afterwards, Ms. Spencer let them decide which Principle they wanted to express in a work of art. Many of the students applied their new found understanding of the ocean from the curriculum and their inspiration from the work of previous Coastal America Ocean Art Contest winners to create their own masterpieces.

Ms. Spencer chose to connect a curriculum to the art assignment because she believes that when students make a strong connection with the material, their work is stronger and more inspired. She anticipates that the students will not only gain more respect for the ocean, but also a better understanding of how they impact the ocean–and its inverse. “I wanted them to be passionate about what they picked, so the best way to do that is to let them choose what they were drawn to the most. They would draw about what they are most excited about, and be compelled about it,” she said.

 The students’ entries will be submitted to the North Carolina Aquarium, the Learning Center nearest them.  Participating Learning Centers will select their winning entries and submit them to the national contest. Coastal America’s guest judges will select the national winners from each age group in May. Winning entries will be displayed in several venues in Washington, DC, while winners and their chaperones will be invited to a special awards ceremony during Capitol Hill Oceans Week in Washington, D.C., June 2012.

The Nisqually Restoration at their CA Partnership Award Ceremony.

(Seattle—Dec. 10, 2011) The Nisqually Estuary Restoration Team received national accolades for outstanding efforts to restore and protect the coastal environment as a recipient of the Coastal America Partnership Award. This is the only award of its kind presented by the Obama Administration for on-the-ground environmental restoration partnership projects.

Federal, regional, tribal, and non-profit officials met at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for a tour and award ceremony to recognize the restoration of over 900 acres of tidal habitat in the Nisqually Delta.

“The restoration of the Nisqually Estuary and delta system is striking, “said Virginia Tippie, Coastal America Director. “It is an example of an opportunity that resulted from critical community needs and the development of key partnerships.”

The 15-year long project was led by a partnership of federal, state, tribal, non-profit, and local scientists and officials who worked together to return the Nisqually Delta to a more natural state. A one-mile long boardwalk trail allows visitors to explore the delta, view wildlife and observe the estuary.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Nisqually Indian Tribe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ducks Unlimited, and the Nisqually River Council were in attendance, as were representatives of all 17 partners on the team.

In October 2009, the Brown Farm Dike was removed after a century of blocking tidal flow, allowing the tides to return to over 760 acres of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.  Along with 190 acres of wetlands restored by the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Nisqually Delta represents the largest estuary restoration project in the Pacific Northwest to assist in recovery of Puget Sound salmon and wildlife populations.

Over the past decade, the refuge and close partners, including the tribe and Ducks Unlimited, have reconnected more than 35 kilometers of the historic tidal slough systems and floodplains with the tides of Puget Sound, which could increase salt marsh habitat in the southern reach of Puget Sound by 55 percent.  This partnership effort was an important step in the recovery of Puget Sound.

For more information on the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, visit http://www.fws.gov/Nisqually/

Press release courtesy of:  Hanady Kader, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-0454, kader.hanady@epa.gov.

For more information about the Coastal America Partnership, please visit www.coastalamerica.gov. Check out more photos from the event by finding us on Facebook.