Two NOAA-sponsored habitat restoration projects in Louisiana have been approved for more than $64 million in funding through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act Program. Together they will restore approximately 724 acres of wetland habitat, helping support resilient communities and sustainable fisheries along the Louisiana coast. Contact: Cecelia Linder.

NOAA has just published its 2022 Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Report to Congress. The report highlights impressive discoveries and science activities that supported management decisions and improved our understanding of deep-sea coral communities. Contact: Heather Coleman.

NOAA and its partners in Louisiana recently approved $2.26 billion in funding for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project to build a structure to reconnect the Mississippi River to southern Louisiana’s Barataria Estuary. The project represents one of the largest coastal habitat restoration projects ever undertaken. The controlled release of freshwater, sediment and nutrients from the river is projected to restore over 13,000 acres of wetland habitat over the next 50 years. Contact: Mel Landry.

Celebrating #IHeartEstuaries is a popular way to show your love each February to these important bodies of water where rivers meet the sea. Led by our partners at Restore America’s Estuaries and the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association, this annual campaign recognizes the importance and value of estuaries. We have many reasons to appreciate them, let us count the ways.  Contact: Alison Hammer.

The Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program just launched an updated website to help share information and data about deep-sea coral expeditions, discoveries, and protections. Notable updates include new regional pages that highlight major research initiatives in U.S. waters and a more streamlined and intuitive publication database with expanded search capabilities. Contact: Dani Weissman.

NOAA and a diverse set of collaborators embarked on a set of eight scientific cruises in some of the Gulf of Mexico’s deeper waters in the vicinity of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill from April through October 2022. The data, samples, imagery, and sonar scans gathered during these cruises will advance restoration in some of the Gulf’s most inaccessible yet crucial habitats.  Explore some of the work the projects completed in 2022. Contact: Kris Benson.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for NOAA to restore habitat in the face of climate change.  In NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region, $71 million is recommended for 20 fish passage projects across California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. It promises to reopen many miles of crucial salmon and steelhead spawning and rearing habitat across the West Coast as climate change increases the urgency of recovery actions.

In 2022, NOAA and our partners recovered over $114 million dollars from polluters to restore six contaminated waterways across the country through the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program. In a video message, the National Ocean Service Assistant Administrator shares how the settlement funds will support habitat restoration in New Jersey, the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Bay, Pennsylvania, New Orleans, and Hawaii. 

Collaborative efforts reopen six additional miles of habitat to migrating and resident fish in California. NOAA Fisheries supported the planning and removal by partners of 8-foot Hemphill Dam. It had been installed in the early 1900s to divert water into the Hemphill Canal but lacked passage for native salmon and federally listed steelhead .Salmon and steelhead are using the new fish passage and can be viewed in Auburn Ravine from mid-October through mid-April.

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office is offering five college-level Chesapeake-focused internships in summer 2023. These paid internships will run from mid-May through mid-August; applications are due by February 20, 2023.

The NOAA Fisheries Financial Assistance Division is hosting an in-person workshop for grant applicants and award recipients on March 7, 2023 in Silver Spring, Maryland. The workshop is open to the public and will explore and examine financial assistance awards provided by NOAA, including grant types, application requirements, review and evaluation processes, and more.

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in collaboration with NOAA annouced a new funding opportunity for Capacity Building to Implement Coral Restoration Action Plans in the U.S. Pacific Islands open now through March 31. These grants will enable coral restoration in the four U.S. Pacific Island jurisdictions of American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and Hawaii. More than $700,000 is expected to be awarded over the next two years. See RFP for more information including a webinar scheduled for March 1.