This Veterans Day, we’re highlighting NOAA’s Veterans Conservation Corps partnerships. These multi-state efforts are building a community of habitat restoration practitioners who’ve served in the armed forces. Along with many partners, we’re recruiting, employing, training, and mentoring veterans to restore and protect habitat in support of long-term coastal restoration. Contact: Laurel Jennings.

On October 30, 2020 the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) was recognized by Congress with the signing of the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act (S. 3051). The new law expands the NFHP Board membership, authorizes funding to partner organizations, adds Congressional reporting requirements, and more. NOAA Fisheries has been a committed partner of NFHP since its inception in 2006. Contact: Alex Atkinson.

Last month, we celebrated World Fish Migration Day—a global celebration to raise awareness on the importance of free flowing rivers and migratory fish. Learn more about how NOAA helps migratory fish and local communities by opening or improving access to river and stream habitat. Contact: Katie Wagner.

Atlantic sturgeon were once abundant in rivers and coastal waters along the East Coast, but their population has declined greatly due to fishing and habitat loss. But recent tracking of sturgeon in the Pee Dee River is signaling an improvement in the health of the population. Contact: Katie Wagner.

For the past two decades, fish passage experts, landowners, and community members have worked to build a network of restored habitat in the Klamath River watershed. This habitat will support salmon, steelhead, and other species throughout the region and lay the groundwork for future dam removals. Contact: Bob Pagliuco.

These oil spill settlement-funded projects opened up a river and streams, and restored wetland habitat in two northeast states, Massachusetts and Maine. Fish haven't been able to access some of these areas for hundreds of years. Contacts: Matt Bernier, Jim Turek.

NOAA and partners have released a new comprehensive guide that outlines best practices for monitoring coral restoration efforts and measuring progress toward meeting restoration goals. Practitioners, managers, and scientists worldwide can use this guide to evaluate the success of coral restoration efforts. Contact: Tom Moore.

NOAA and partner agencies have more than 200 projects restoring the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Across all the states, and from the coast to the deepest parts of the Gulf, you can virtually explore them in this interactive map. Contact: Stephen Heverly.

Blue catfish were introduced to a few tributaries on Virginia’s Western Shore decades ago. Since then, they have spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay and have become apex predators in many river systems. A new Invasive Catfish Management Strategy developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program includes developing a commercial fishery for these fish and highlighting that they are a terrific option for your dinner. Contact: Kim Couranz.

Since 2013, NOAA has supported our partners’ efforts to enhance and restore nearly two miles of shoreline and twenty acres of habitat across eight sites in the Buffalo River region. A new video highlights how these projects have helped restore habitat, stabilize shorelines, manage invasive species, and reduce erosion. Contact: Julie Sims.

The Manager’s Guide to Coral Reef Restoration Planning and Design supports the needs of reef managers seeking to begin restoration or assess their current restoration program. Based on global best practices—and tested with managers from Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands—the guide was developed for reef managers and practitioners, and anyone who plans, implements, and monitors restoration activities.

The NOAA Action Plan on Coral Interventions is a new plan recently released that will guide how NOAA approaches coral interventions in the next one to three years. The plan encompasses four actions for NOAA: (1) research and test priority interventions, (2) develop local or regional structured decision support, (3) review policy implications of coral interventions, and (4) invest in infrastructure, research, and coordination.

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.