Publications:
ANEP Update
July
2003
NEP
NEWS
Phase
I of ANEP's new national outreach campaign, "What's
An Estuary? Now You Know!" (Estuary Campaign), was
unveiled this past June in New Orleans to rave reviews from
an enthusiastic group of National Estuary Program (NEP) and
National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) representatives
assembled for the 2003 NEP Education and Outreach Conference.
Founded by the Association of National Estuary Programs
(ANEP) through a U.S. EPA grant, the Estuary Campaign has
been joined by the NERRS as a valued Partner, and U.S.
Fish & Wildlife (USF&W) and Restore America's Estuaries
(RAE) as important Distribution Partners.
Our Distribution Partners will assist with the distribution
of campaign products and advertising. The nation-wide goal
of the "What's An Estuary? Now You Know!" campaign is to make
"estuary" an everyday household word like "river", "ocean",
and "bay", by 2005. The campaign is designed to be seen by
millions across the country and to involve a critical mass
of individuals, organizations and businesses to create public
awareness about estuaries: what they are and why they are
so important to protect. This
Estuary Campaign has two primary driving engines:
1) The National Campaign is comprised of
a national television advertising campaign; the campaign's
website; and nationally placed earned media
2)
The Community Outreach Project allows the campaign
to permeate deeply into the local watershed level.
The Community Outreach Project will utilize outreach
tools such as the new Multimedia Presentation unveiled in
New Orleans for community and television speaking engagements,
events display, etc.; promotion of the campaign's website;
press releases/conferences; radio ads and interviews; print
ads and articles; and an estuary products/information catalog
- all to be distributed by the above Campaign Partners.
The
Estuary Campaign's initial kick-off will be on National Estuary
Day 2003 (September 27th). During this time the
Estuary Campaign will also work cooperatively with Estuary
Live! and Coast Weeks - two other important national education
campaigns - to leverage media coverage and spread all our
important messages regarding coastal issues. The National
Campaign and Community Outreach Project will be fully launched
in late Spring/early Summer, 2004. To view and download the
8-minute Multimedia Presentation "What's An Estuary? Now You
Know!, or for more information on the campaign, partnership
opportunities, and how YOU can join this word-of-mouth epidemic
to make "estuary" an everyday household word please visit
www.WhatsAnEstuary.com
| |
 |
| |
Select above image to view in larger scale |
Another
rainy Saturday did not keep hundreds of Barnegat Bay supporters
from flocking to the 7th Annual Barnegat Bay Festival. The event was sponsored by the Barnegat Bay
National Estuary Program, the Barnegat Bay Watershed and
Estuary Foundation, and the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
There was something for everyone along the beautiful waterfront
of Cedar Creek. Many festival-goers enjoyed the free scenic
cross-bay boat trip and others joined tour guide Jan Larson
on a close-up view of the environmentally sensitive and historically
significant Cedar Creek Watershed.
Many nonprofit groups also volunteered time to display
information and answer questions regarding the protection
of our natural resources.
Bluegrass and acoustic country music band, Home Cookin'
started the day with festive music and The Incinerators washed
away the "blues." Children were entertained and enhanced their
knowledge of the bay with scavenger hunts, fish printing,
face painting, seedling planting, and much more. Despite the
rain, spirits were not dampened as individuals scurried from
one tent to another to remain dry.
We would like to thank all of the supporters for sporting
their rain gear and taking time to celebrate our beautiful
treasure, Barnegat Bay.
| |
 |
| |
Select above image to view
in larger scale |
On
June 6, 2003, U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman and
New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell announced the establishment of a "No Discharge
Zone" in Barnegat Bay. This designation prohibits boats
from releasing treated or untreated sewage into the bay. Administrator
Whitman, Commissioner Campbell, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator
William J. Muszynski, Ocean County Freeholder Director John
Bartlett, Berkeley Township Mayor Jason Varano and Barnegat
Bay Watershed and Estuary Foundation Chairman Herbert B. Bennett
gathered at Berkeley Island County Park to sign a resolution
recognizing the Bay's environmental, recreational, and economic
value to New Jersey. Many partners worked together to make
the designation a reality.
Mr.
Josh Thompson was recently hired as the Center for the
Inland Bays - CIB- (Delaware Inland Bays NEP) new Little
Assawoman Bay Watershed Coordinator.
Thompson will be working to implement the Center's
Poultry Integrators' Nutrient Effort (P.I.N.E.) project, which
aims to develop a "model watershed" in the Inland Bays drainage
basin. Funding to support
this position was made available by the Delaware Non-point
Source (319) Pollution Program, the Delaware Nutrient Management
Commission, and Perdue Farms, Inc. (the DelMarVa Peninsula's
largest poultry processing company). In its efforts to raise financial support for
its new office/education facility, the CIB hosted a luncheon
for a distinguished group of community and business leaders
to discuss fundraising strategies.
The architectural design for the new facility was debuted
during the luncheon event and participants were given a tour
of the existing building.
To date, CIB has raised more than $250K for this project,
including a $15K Capital Project grant recently awarded by
the Delaware Community Foundation.
| |
 |
| |
Select above image to view
in larger scale |
In
spring of 2003 the Sarasota Bay NEP began a new school
outreach program titled "P.I.E.R." which stands for Protection,
Involvement, Education and Restoration. The purpose of the program is to educate students
about the local coastal ecology, promote the benefits of environmental
stewardship and increase students' environmental literacy
and stewardship behaviors.
This new program, which has already been enjoyed by
2,175 students in the spring 2003, is offered to all public
and private elementary and middle schools in Sarasota and
Manatee counties. Teachers
are eligible to receive a free Coastal Habitats Curriculum
and field trips to a restoration site or park on Sarasota
Bay. Each school will
receive funds to cover busses and substitute teacher expenses. Schools are able to take more than one field
trip, provided that there is funding available.
Funding is available on a first-come, first-served
basis. Teachers may request a curriculum and field
trip by contacting Brie Willett at (941) 359-5841 or brie_willett@sarasotagov.com
The
Sarasota Bay NEP's Comprehensive Conservation and Management
Plan (CCMP) includes a goal to restore 18 acres of tidal wetlands
and 11 acres of freshwater wetlands annually.
Since 1995, the community has restored over 170 acres
of estuarine tidal wetlands with continuing projects designed
to restore additional wetland acreage.
The present mapping project was conceived to inventory
the critical nursery habitats important for sustaining fish
populations. Shoreline
features within the Sarasota Bay system were characterized
by vegetation (such as mangrove, marsh, or Brazilian pepper)
shore type (such as fringing wetland, riprap, or seawall)
and shore morphology (such as embayment, creek mouth, or altered).
This information was interpreted from aerial photographs
and placed into a Geographic Information System (GIS) computer
database. Bulkheads
presently represent 185.8 linear miles (45.3%) of the shoreline
of the SBNEP study area, with riprap representing 38.5 miles
(9.4%). These generally unvegetated shoreline areas
offer great opportunities for future shoreline enhancement.
The GIS shoreline mapping also reveals that 7.6 miles (1.8%)
of the shoreline is dominated by nuisance or exotic vegetation
(Australian pine, Brazilian pepper, and cattail). These vegetation types represent only a small
proportion of the total shoreline, but again provide relatively
easy enhancement opportunities. The shoreline mapping also
reveals low amounts of Juncus (0.6 miles, 0.1%), leatherfern
(1.5 miles, 0.4%) and Spartina (2.3 miles, 0.5%) along
the shorelines of the SBNEP study area. Ultimately, the results of this investigation
will be used to guide decisions for improving Sarasota Bay
habitat restoration efforts.
| |
 |
| |
Select above image to view
in larger scale |
The
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program was pleased to
participate in the development of Battles Wharf Reef. The fifth reef, in a series of 10 artificial
structures in the Roads to Reefs program, was constructed
on Wednesday, June 11 in Mobile Bay.
Artificial reefs create vertical structures on the
flat bottoms of Mobile Bay. These structures attract many organisms from
small invertebrates to large fish, creating a complex habitat
for commercial and recreational species as well as others
that contribute to the health of the estuary.
The Battles Wharf Reef involved contributions from
the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Coastal Conservation Association,
Mobile County Wildlife and Conservation Association, Point
Clear Property Owners Association, and the Alabama Marine
Resources Division. The Mobile Bay NEP, a new partner in the program,
contributed $15,000 to the project, roughly half of the total
cost. This reef had
been planned, along with the ten other sites, but would not
have been constructed without the catalyst of the Mobile Bay
NEP. For more information
go to www.mobilebaynep.com
and click on news.
The
5-year Maryland Coastal Bays Volunteer Water Quality
Report released this June shows water quality at most sites
is insufficient for meeting seagrass requirements and reaffirms
a MD Department of Natural Resources study which shows dissolved
oxygen levels are too low to meet fish, crab and shellfish
needs in the bays central and northern rivers and tributaries. The work, at 33 sites in all major bays and
tributaries, measured chlorophyl, temperature, pH, clarity
(turbidity), nitrogen, and phosphorous over the past five
years. In 93 percent of those sites, turbidity readings showed
insufficient light to support seagrass growth and reproduction.
Chlorophyll-a measurements, a function of nutrient inputs,
showed acceptable levels slightly more than half the time
in Sinepuxent, Chincoteague, and Isle of Wight bays, but an
81 percent failure rate in St. Martins River and a failure
rate of 54 percent in Assawoman Bay. During seagrass growing
season (April-October) all bays met seagrass requirements
for nitrogen with the exception of the St. Martins River and
Newport Bay which averaged eight times the permissible standard.
Likewise with inorganic phosphate, St. Martins River and Newport
bays had unacceptable levels with the remaining bays systems
meeting the growth requirements on average. No sites met all
four standard minimum parameters for seagrass growth. More
than 20 additional sites are monitored by Maryland DNR, the
Maryland Department of Environment and the National Park Service.
The data, which represents nearshore water quality, reaches
back to 1997 when the Coastal Bays Citizens Advisory Committee
decided to implement a volunteer program to collect data in
areas not routinely monitored by local or state agencies.
ANEP
welcomes the new director of the Delaware Estuary Program!
Peter Evans has joined the team, pulling hard on the
oars with Assistant Director Martha Maxwell-Doyle and the
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
Peter has a background in science and environmental
law and many years of experience working in a collaborative,
interstate setting for the protection and restoration of large-scale
ecosystems. Before
moving from Denver with his family in 2001, he worked in the
Colorado Department of Natural Resources as legal counsel
to the Executive Director and as director of the state water
board. More recently, Peter was the director of watershed
programs for Gannett Fleming Sustainable Ventures Corp. Peter is dedicated to the extension of grassroots
organization, information and capacity-building to magnify
the potential benefits we can derive from the science, policy
and funding our estuary programs can otherwise engage.
Echoing
concerns in other estuaries, the Puget Sound Action Team
has recently become involved with sonar testing in Puget Sound
and its apparent harm to marine mammals, including porpoises
and orcas. Washington's governor, Gary Locke, called for
the U.S. Navy to provide him with a report regarding a May
5, 2003 testing of active sonar in Puget Sound.
The testing resulted in observed bizarre swimming patterns
of orcas and other marine mammals that quickly fled the sonar
test area. In addition,
the Action Team and others are troubled that the testing may
be linked to the death of 10 porpoises that washed ashore
days after the testing. Gov.
Locke asked for information on how the Navy plans to mitigate
the harm that sonar testing poses to marine mammals in Puget
Sound. The Navy has
said that it is conducting an inquiry into the May 5th
incident and is developing guidance to avoid harming marine
mammals during routine training.
NOAA Fisheries examined the porpoises in July to determine
what killed the animals, and results of the CT scans and necropsies
are expected by October.
