2012 Gulf Coast Climate Change Survey
Read the 2012 Gulf Coast Climate Change Survey here.
Deepwater Horizon Phase I Early Restoration Plan & Environmental Assessment” (ERP/EA)
An estimated $60 million in early restoration projects soon will begin along the Gulf Coast following the nation's largest oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustee Council announced recently.
With finalization of the "Deepwater Horizon Phase I Early Restoration Plan & Environmental Assessment" (ERP/EA), the trustees will implement eight restoration projects. The projects provide for marsh creation, coastal dune habitat improvements, nearshore artificial reef creation, and oyster cultch restoration, as well as the construction and enhancement of boat ramps to compensate for lost human use of resources.
The ERP/EA is the first early restoration plan under the unprecedented April 2011 agreement with BP to fund $1 billion in early restoration projects. The funding enables the trustees to begin restoration before the completion of damage assessment activities.
The trustees are working to move the next phase of early restoration forward. The selection process for future early restoration projects will proceed along the same lines as the first. After reaching preliminary agreement with BP on proposed projects, the trustees will seek public comments before finalizing any future plan.
"Having carefully planned the projects in Phase I and extensively discussed them with the public, we are confident that the projects will achieve our goal of beginning to heal the Gulf's ecosystem and people's enjoyment of it," said Alabama representative Cooper Shattuck, chair of the NRDA Trustee Council's Executive Committee.
The Phase I projects, including two each in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, were the focus of 12 public meetings held throughout the Gulf states and in Washington, D.C., during January and February 2012.
In addition to speaking at meetings, hundreds of citizens filed comments by mail and online. Following the meetings, more than 500 people and organizations submitted comments, which were gathered and carefully evaluated.
In addition to speaking at meetings, hundreds of citizens filed comments by mail and online. Following the meetings, more than 500 people and organizations submitted comments, which were gathered and carefully evaluated. The comments, as well as trustee responses to them, are included in the Phase I plan, which can be reviewed at MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "r20.rs6.net" claiming to be www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov and MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "r20.rs6.net" claiming to be www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon . The NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration site also provides additional information about restoration planning and a status update on the ongoing damage assessment.
Find more information and read the full text of the press release on the NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration site.
Mon Louis Island Community Meeting
The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and Dr. Scott Douglas and Caren Reid Dixon of South Coast Engineers, Inc. will present the final engineering plan for a collaborative living shoreline along Mon Louis Island's north shore.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
St. Rose of Lima Parish Hall
2951 Durette Avenue
6:OO until 8:00pm Refreshments will be served
Break the Plastic Habit!
The Mobile Bay NEP encourages voluntary action to reduce the impact of single-use plastic bags.
Coastal Timber Pre-Harvest Planning Workshop
This workshop is designed to cover timber harvesting in sensitive coastal areas. Best Management Practices will be covered. There will be PLM and Forester CFE credits awarded for attendance.
Registration will begin at 8:00 am and the program will start at 9:00 am. Program will end at noon.
Click here for a .pdf of the brochure for the workshop detailing the agenda and location information.
Northern Gulf Coastal Program Goals and Frequently Asked Questions
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program (http://www.fws.gov/coastal) is a voluntary and non-regulatory program whose mission is to efficiently achieve voluntary habitat conservation through financial and technical assistance for the benefit of Federal Trust Species. The Coastal Program operates through 24 offices located along our nation's Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, and Great Lakes coasts. The goals of the Northern Gulf Coastal Program (http://www.fws.gov/daphne/Coastal/Coastal.html), based in Moss Point, MS, are:
• To effectively restore or enhance degraded coastal wetlands and uplands, estuaries, and riparian corridors along the northern Gulf (AL, MS, LA), and within the context of climate change and sea level rise;
• To establish living shorelines as the primary means for protecting eroding shorelines in these coastal areas where appropriate, thereby steering coastal protection efforts away from hardening;
• To form partnerships with private groups and government agencies to strategically restore, enhance, conserve, and protect coastal habitat and resources;
• To implement the Strategic Habitat Conservation framework ( www.fws.gov/southeast/SHC) to put the right conservation in the right places across the coastal landscape for the benefit of fish and wildlife.
If you have a coastal conservation project that can help achieve these goals and would like to request financial assistance from the Northern Gulf Coastal Program (NGCP) in fiscal year 2012, please click here for some frequently asked questions about the program.
Then contact Patric Harper to discuss your project ideas and to get more information about developing a cooperative agreement.
Patric Harper
Northern Gulf Coastal Program Coordinator US Fish and Wildlife Service Grand Bay Coastal Resources Center
6005 Bayou Heron Road
Moss Point, MS 39562
228-475-0765 x 105
228-475-8097 fax
We look forward to working with our partners to achieve coastal conservation in the northern Gulf.
ADEM fines Mobile
ADEM fines Mobile, forces it into consent decree for failure to monitor stormwater runoff.
After years of failure to fully monitor what its storm drains flush into the bay, Mobile has been fined and forced by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to enter into a consent decree. A June 2011 audit of the city's program noted three violations:
- Failure to submit required stormwater management reports.
- Failure to properly fund the stormwater management permit program.
- Failure to develop a detailed construction-project monitoring system to monitor runoff.
ADEM imposed the relatively modest fine of $17,500. Each of the violations could have provoked a penalty of up to $25,000, according to the city.
To View the entire article visit:
http://blog.al.com/live/2012/02/adem_fines_mobile_forces_it_in.html
Job Opportunity with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is seeking a Regional Director for the organization’s Gulf and Southeast Oceans Program. The Director will be responsible for developing and implementing strategies related to EDF’s initiatives in Gulf and South Atlantic fisheries. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who has expertise in fisheries and oceans policy and a demonstrated success managing regional teams and affecting environmental policy change. The Director will report to the Associate Vice President for Regional Programs and ideally be based in EDF’s Austin, Texas office. Visit the following link to apply and for more information. http://www.edf.org/jobs/regional-director-gulf-and-south-atlantic-oceans
News Conference: WORK TO BEGIN IN JOE’S BRANCH WATERSHED
A news conference to kickoff the project will be held, Monday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. at Bayfront Park in Daphne. Congressman Jo Bonner, Spanish Fort Mayor Joseph Bonner and Daphne Mayor Bailey Yelding will join officials from ADEM, ALDOT and other agencies.
Download the full announcement regarding the upcoming conference here.
Impacted Watershed, Joe’s Branch D’Olive
This before and after photo to the right shows the erosion on a tributary of Joe’s Branch. Ashley Campbell with the City of Daphne sits on a boulder that fell off the wall of the stream after a storm last summer. The second photo shows a completed step pool conveyance in Anne Arundel County, MD. The restoration of the tributary of Joe’s Branch will resemble the Maryland project. Click on the image for a full size view.
Restoration Location – the yellow area on the picture to the left shows the degraded drainage area that will be rehabilitated during this project. Click on the image for a full size view.
The NASA charts to the right compare the change in land use from forested and agricultural to urbanization in the D’Olive and Joe’s Branch watersheds 1974 to 2008. Click on the image for a full size view.
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The Step Pool Conveyance diagram to the left illustrates the proposed design of step pools to be built in a tributary of Joe’s Branch. Step pools are designed to slow the volume and velocity of stormwater flowing through the creek, decrease the runoff of sediment downstream, and improve water quality.
The diagram to the right shows degraded streams and wetlands in the D’Olive Watershed.