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PRIORITY ISSUE TEAM CONFERENCE CALLS:
Water Quality
Mercury - Jan 10 at 9:00 central
HABs - Jan 15 at 2:00 central
Pathogens - Jan 16 at 2 central
Monitoring - Jan 23 at 2 central
Resilience - Feb. 11 at 10:00 central
Education - Jan 14 at 10:00 central
Team Coordinators have call-in information - see Quick Links, below.
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UP-COMING NRDA PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS:
Jan 14 - Belle Chasse, LA Jan 15 - Thibodaux, LA Jan 16 - Lake Charles, LA Jan 21 - Port Arthur, TX
Jan 22 - Galveston, TX Jan 23 - Corpus Christi, TX Jan 28 - Pensacola, FL Jan 29 - Panama City, FL More information can be found at: Gulf Spill Restoration/NOAA |
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Marine Planning Meeting
February 11, 2014 Miss State Coastal Research & Extension Center Biloxi, MS Meeting details, agenda and hotel room block information is posted here. |
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Rigs to Reefs Meeting
March 18, 2014 Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans, LA For more information contact Laura Bowie at laura.bowie@gomxa.org |
Come See Us!
We love visitors! With our new
sign out front, you can't miss us. Stop by 1151 Robinson Street in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and we'll show you around.
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PRIORITY ISSUE TEAM SUCCESS
HCRT Team's Beneficial Use Project:
From Muck to Marshes
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 Sand is gold and it's becoming harder and harder to find for nourishing sandy beaches, rebuilding important fish habitat, restoring barrier islands and coastal marshes. But sand is not the whole story. Rebuilding marshes requires finer grained materials, such as mud and clays, collectively known as "muck". Muck, while in great supply, is more difficult to work with than sand.
The Alliance HCRT members and restoration professionals need all the restoration projects they can get to use the excess dredged muck. Muck is the primary resource needed to complete restoration projects that are essential for storm protection and robust fisheries. The team recognized that industries are dredging waterways, marinas and ports to maintain transportation routes and much of the dredged material is being placed in upland disposal areas or discarded offshore, lost from our estuary systems. Read more
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| Sempier Takes on Role at the Alliance |
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The Gulf of Mexico Alliance has hired Tracie Sempier to serve as its regional program manager. The position is a shared position between the Alliance and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium's Coastal Storms Program. Sempier has been working as the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Storms Program outreach coordinator at MASGC since 2008 and has worked extensively with the Alliance as part of its Coastal Community Resilience Priority Issue Team.
 "This partnership makes sense because Tracie has been a very active part of our priority team on hazard resilience," said Alliance Executive Director Laura Bowie. "She will be able to bring her unique, hands-on outreach approach to other functions of the Alliance."
Sempier continues to serve part-time as the Coastal Storms Program outreach coordinator for MASGC. Read more
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Department of Defense: Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)
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SERDP released solicitations seeking proposals for FY 2015 funding. Through a Federal Call for Proposals and a Broad Agency Announcement, funds are available through a competitive process to both Federal and private sector organizations to perform basic and applied research and advanced technology development in the Resource Conservation and Climate Change program area. Core pre-proposals are due January 9, 2014; SEED proposals are due March 11, 2014. Read more
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Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program
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The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program seeks to develop nation-wide-community stewardship of local natural resources, preserving these resources for future generations and enhancing habitat for local wildlife. The program anticipates that $1,800,000 in combined funding will be available. Learn more about the funding priorities for this program here. The application deadline is February 5, 2014.
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Georgetown Climate Center
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The Georgetown Climate Center (GCC) is seeking applications from government entities (or NGOs working with government entities) that need legal or policy support to identify or implement adaptation policies. Applications will be accepted through January 3, 2014, and they will be announcing selected projects by the end of January 2014. This assistance is made possible by the generous support of the Kresge Foundation. Find application here
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Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative
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| The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) recently announced their fourth Request for Proposals, known as RFP IV, for GoMRI Years 5-7 (2015-2017). RFP IV is for Consortia and will be for approximately $35 million per year. The pre-proposal deadline is January 15, 2014. Click here for more information. |
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REGIONAL INITIATIVES
Gulf Restoration Updates
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 Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA): During December and January, NRDA Trustees are engaging the public to solicit input for the draft plan for the third phase of Early Restoration. The third phase of early NRDA restoration proposes more than $625 million in new early projects across the Gulf States. The draft plan also outlines the Trustees' proposed programmatic approach to early restoration planning for Phase III and future early restoration plans. The Alabama and Mississippi public meetings took place in December, while the Louisiana, Texas and Florida meetings will be in January. More information can be found here: Gulf Spill Restoration/NOAA.
Alabama: The Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council (AGCRC) is a 10-member council comprised of state and local officials, created with the passage of the RESTORE Act in 2012. The AGCRC adopted a Strategy Map and tapped ADCNR to serve as administrator. For additional information on the AGCRC, visit restorealabama.org. To learn about other state-specific restoration activities, including NRDA, NFWF and AGCRC, visit www.alabamacoastalrestoration.org.
Mississippi: As part of the on-going effort to Make Mississippi Whole, MDEQ recently announced a state-of-the-art online program for submission of project ideas for consideration across all funding sources, including RESTORE, NRDA, and NFWF. Visit www.restore.ms to learn more or to submit project ideas.
Florida: FDEP is the lead agency for responding to impacts and the resulting restoration process. For information about restoration in Florida, including projects funded by RESTORE Act, NRDA and NFWF, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon.
Louisiana: Governor Jindal recently announced plans for The Water Campus, a hub for public, private non-profit and academic sectors to collaborate and develop innovative solutions for challenging coastal Louisiana issues. The full announcement can be found here. Information on Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan restoration efforts can be found by visiting CPRA's site. Information on Louisiana's NRDA restoration can be found here.
Texas: Coming Soon: a website where people can learn more about the process of restoration along the Texas coast:
www.restorethetexascoast.org. (NOTE: this web page is still under construction and is not yet active.)
NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program: On December 12, NOAA announced the release of its RESTORE Act Science Program Framework. The Framework communicates NOAA's intent, purpose and rationale for how it will execute the Program according to its responsibilities under the RESTORE Act. It will inform the Program's short-term priorities and provide the foundation for a robust Science Plan. Click here for more information on Framework and the recent announcement.
National Academy of Sciences' Gulf Research Program: The National Academy of Sciences' Gulf Research Program focuses on human health, environmental protection, and oil system safety in the Gulf of Mexico. Program planning is being conducted by an appointed Advisory Group who has hosted a series of opportunities to provide input. Additional meetings scheduled for 2014 are:
February 11-12 in Houston, TX
June 11-12 in Tampa, FL
Information from the 2013 meetings can be found here.
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| Mapping Restoration Projects |
GOMA has been working hard on a map that will allow users to view restoration projects as well as research activities in progress across the Gulf. Click here to see the site!
Currently, the site contains projects from GOMA, GoMRI, NFWF, and early NRDA, with more to be added in the future. Coming soon are projects from states, Sea Grant, and National Academy of Sciences.
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