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| SARP Newsletter |
April 2012 |
With partners, protect, conserve, and restore aquatic resources including habitats throughout
the Southeast, for the continuing benefit, use, and enjoyment of the American people. |
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SARP/NOAA Restoration Projects Protect Shorelines, Create Fish Habitat
 | | Proposed restoration site on Bailey Creek, South Carolina. Photo credit: South Carolina DNR. |
This year, the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and the NOAA Restoration Center are investing more than $150,000 to restore habitat in the southeastern U.S. Through these projects, shorelines along the south Atlantic coast will be enhanced or restored by planting native wetland and aquatic plants and establishing or repairing oyster reefs. Oyster reefs reduce erosion caused by waves along the shoreline, while providing habitat for many species of fish.
These projects will encourage local communities and state agencies to work together in restoring habitat-not only benefitting fish and wildlife, but also creating a stewardship ethic for future generations. Community members participating in each of these projects reflect a growing commitment by Americans to conserve and restore the ecosystems around them.
The 2012 projects:
- Led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, this project will stabilize and rebuild fringing salt marsh habitat to protect Brown Pelican nesting areas and to create approximately two patch oyster reefs for fish habitat on Beacon Island (owned by Audubon North Carolina) in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
- Led by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, this project will create and protect intertidal oyster reefs and saltmarsh, essential fish habitat, within the Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto (ACE) Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve in South Carolina.
- Led by the University of Georgia's Marine Extension Service, this project will remove a failing bulkhead on Little St. Simons Island, GA and install a living shoreline in its place to provide stream bank stabilization, habitat for eastern oysters, and essential fish habitat.
- Led by the Friends of the GTM Research Reserve, this project will establish an oyster shell recycling program for St. Johns County, Florida, construct a living shoreline, and plant spartina grass within the boundaries of the new reef to further protect the shoreline and provide nursery habitat for marine species at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve.
NOAA and SARP have teamed together to promote, facilitate, and implement cooperative habitat conservation and restoration in the Southeast. The projects will also help achieve the goals of the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), which nationally coordinates and supports regionally-based fisheries protection, restoration, and enhancement. SARP is one of the first recognized NFHAP partnerships and is the largest fish habitat partnership in the Southeast.
For information about specific projects, contact the partnership's Program Administrator, Lindsay Gardner, at 615-730-8178 or lindsayg@southeastaquatics.net. |
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SAVE THE DATE -- Upcoming Instream Flow Workshop
 | | Savannah Riverfront. Photo credit: Marriott. |
SARP and the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SALCC) are pleased to invite you to participate in an opportunity to direct research in the region to support protective instream flow policies and management practices.
April 10-12, 2012
Marriott Savannah Riverfront
Savannah, Georgia
Workshop participants will review and utilize this information to identify and prioritize information gaps and instream flow research needs in the South Atlantic region. SARP will incorporate this information into a long-term instream flow research plan for the SALCC.
The outcomes of the workshop will help inform water resource managers and policy makers about flow requirements of streams, rivers, and estuaries of the SALCC region. Further, the results of this workshop will provide information to help assess the likely impacts of climate change to the region's aquatic resources.
For more information contact Mary Davis, Southern Instream Flow Network Coordinator, at mary@southeastaquatics.net.
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Raccoon Creek. Photo credit: TNC. |
Restoring Raccoon Creek
Raccoon Creek in the Etowah River Watershed of Northwest Georgia is critical to the long-term survival of a variety of aquatic insects and fish, including the federally endangered Etowah darter and threatened Cherokee darter, the lined chub, and the recreationally-fished redeye bass, but threats loom. The creek flows through Paulding County in Metro Atlanta, one of the country's fastest growing areas prior to the recession. Agricultural practices and land clearing for development have degraded long stretches of the creek, making it more difficult for the fish to survive.
In an effort to minimize the threats and improve water quality, the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHAP) and several other partners provided funding and resources to restore one mile of Georgia Power right-of-way downstream from publicly protected lands. Local partners include The Nature Conservancy, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Paulding County, Georgia Power, Upper Coosa Riverkeeper, Georgia River Network, and Kennesaw State University. The project will establish a forested stream buffer, remove a seasonal fish passage barrier, and stabilize eroding stream banks. To evaluate the effectiveness of the restoration effort, the group is monitoring the changes in the water and habitat quality and numbers and types of fish.
The Raccoon Creek project is just one of 12 Aquatic Habitat Restoration Projects across the Southeast that SARP sponsored and collaborated on in 2011. For more photographs and details about the Raccoon Creek project click here. To arrange a Raccoon Creek project site visit, contact Katie Owens, TNC, at 706-767-0497 or kowens@tnc.org. |
 | | Nashville at night. Photo credit: Marriott. |
SARP Spring Meeting Announcement
It's time to review SARP's progress and chart the course for the future! Our spring Steering Committee meeting this year will be May 23-24, 2012 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. For more information about the hotel, click here.
The meeting will start at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 23rd and end at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 24th. This year, for planning purposes, we will use a rooming list for reservations. Please send your request for room reservations to Angelyn Mewborn by e-mail at angelynm@southeastaquatics.net. Travel assistance is available for state agency representatives upon request. For details, contact Scott Robinson, SARP Coordinator, at scottr@southeastaquatics.net.
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Invitation To Join -- A Communications Network For the LCC Conservation Community
The GCPO LCC and SARP invite you to join the Southeast Communications Network. The goal of the Network is to facilitate rapid and efficient spread of actionable information among members of the Southeast Conservation Community, transcending traditional jurisdictional boundaries and helping such messages penetrate beyond the highest levels of organizational management to staffs and on-the-ground personnel. Accepting this invitation does NOT mean any major commitment of resources or time to attend regular calls.
Please take a moment to read and respond to this invitation. To view the full invitation click here. Please forward it to others as appropriate.
To learn more about the Southeast Communications Network or to join email Gregg Elliott at elliott.gregg@gmail.com. Please provide your email address and phone number. All participants will receive access to the Network list of contacts. Network communications will be limited to news that is multi-jurisdictional, priority and actionable, thus we do not anticipate a significant new burden, rather a source of improved news for your staff and stakeholders! |
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