The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office recently announced four new projects around the Chesapeake Bay watershed to receive a combined total of $480,375 in FY20 grants to help build capacity to deliver outstanding environmental education. There is one new project each in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia as part of the Chesapeake Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. Including funding for 18 projects continuing from previous years, FY20 Chesapeake B-WET funding totals more than $2.6 million enabling nonprofit organizations and universities to partner with school districts to implement Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences that will reach more than 23,000 students. Contact: Elise Trelegan.

With a suite of habitat restoration projects now complete, Muskegon Lake could be removed from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern as early as this year. For decades, Michigan’s Muskegon Lake was considered one of the most degraded areas in the Great Lakes region. NOAA and partners have been working since 2008 to restore habitat and improve water quality in the area. Contact: Julie Sims.

Barney Boyer, former Air Force engineer, and NOAA’s first veteran intern in Washington, leveraged a fisheries-focused internship at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center working on a variety of habitat restoration projects. He earned a graduate degree, then landed at a Michigan environmental agency where he's keeping waters clean for fish and communities. Contact: John Floberg.

Our new story map highlights a decade of NOAA and partners’ efforts across the region, from the Buffalo River in New York to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Since 2010, NOAA has worked through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to restore habitat across the Great Lakes region. Contact: Julie Sims.

Louisiana Restoration Area Trustees approved construction projects to restore Louisiana wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These projects will restore an estimated 4,500 acres of marsh and more than 130 acres of ridge habitats in the Barataria and Pontchartrain basins. Contact: Mel Landry.

NOAA and Trustee partners are proposing a project to restore coral communities impacted by the 2006 T/V Margara oil tanker grounding in Puerto Rico. The incident damaged more than 1.5 acres of reef. The project involves growing corals from broken fragments then reattaching them to damaged reefs. Comments will be accepted through November 9. Contact: Sean Griffin.

Coral colonies tolerant to high temperatures will be outplanted to reefs in Hawai‘i. Some of them are so-called “super corals,” able to survive the high temperatures most find intolerable. Thanks to a partnership between NOAA, the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, and others, some reefs in Hawai‘i are receiving batches of rehabilitated coral colonies from a coral nursery. When these corals are transplanted to damaged reefs, they may help form reefs that are resilient to environmental stressors that are bleaching other corals throughout the world. Contact: Matt Parry.

Coho salmon once supported a wealth of tribal, commercial, and recreational fisheries along the West Coast. Today some populations of the swift silvery fish are nearing extinction. The good news? We can reverse that decline, as biologists and others demonstrate in a new partner video that offers hope for California’s endangered fish and wildlife species. The NOAA Restoration Center worked with NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region staff to design, permit, implement, and monitor the habitat project on Lawrence Creek in northern California.

Ghost nets are silently drifting through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, snagging on coral reefs and entangling wildlife. In 2018, NOAA’s marine debris team quantified the damaging effects of ghost nets on coral reefs of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for the first time which was recently published in a new report. This research shows that nets are associated with significant coral loss. Revisiting these reefs to assess coral recovery will help us learn about the long-term impacts of ghost nets and increase our understanding of coral resilience.

In celebration of World Fish Migration Day 2020‒a one day, global celebration to create awareness on the importance of free flowing rivers and migratory fish‒the Rivers Full of Fish no-cost webinar will spotlight the importance of migratory fish ecology, economy, and people as as the North American celebration. Anyone interested in learning about the latest projects, approaches, and research in river restoration is invited to attend. The celebration takes place in two 90-minute sessions:

• Part One: Transformational Change – A Movement for Rivers (1:00 pm - 2:30 pm EST)
• Part Two: A Celebration of Free-flowing Rivers! (5:00 pm- 6:30 pm EST)

World Fish Migration Day will be celebrated by NOAA during 10/19-10/24. Check it out!

The Environmental Law Institute is accepting nominations for the 32nd Annual National Wetlands Awards. The National Wetlands Awards Program honors individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the conservation and restoration of our nation’s wetlands. Deadline to submit a nomination is December 23, 2020.