News From The Gulf - Gulf of Mexico Foundation Newsletter


	Spring-Summer 2006	www.gulfmex.org


	NEWS
	GMF receives new leadership award from NOAA June 2006 - NOAA presented the Gulf of Mexico Foundation (GMF) a Marine Stewardship and Sustainability Award in Washington DC on June 5. This first-annual national award program honors innovation and excellence in marine stewardship. The GMF received the Coastal Habitat Restoration Award for its successful development and implementation of 33 coastal habitat restoration projects in five Gulf States and the Caribbean. Read more.
	GMF hosts Gulf of Mexico Alliance workshop June 2006 - As a follow-up to the publication of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s Governors’ Action Plan, the GMF organized and hosted a workshop of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance's Regional Restoration Coordination Team June 13-15, 2006. The workshop was held in Biloxi, Mississippi at the Mississippi State University Coastal Research Extension Center. The team consisted of representatives from US and Mexico state, federal, and non-governmental organizations. The long-term goal of the team is to facilitate restoration of coastal habitats throughout the Gulf of Mexico through increased cooperation between the individual governing units, natural resource agencies and non-governmental organizations. Read more.

	STAFF Keyes visits five project sites in two states April 2006 - GMF Project Coordinator Kendal Keyes visited five Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration project sites and met with project managers April 23-26, 2006. She visited one project in Pensacola, Florida, one project in Dauphin Island, Alabama, and three projects in Fairhope, Alabama. AmeriCorps volunteers plant dune vegetation at Robinson Island, Alabama, to help stabilize an area that was damaged by recent hurricanes.

	RESTORATION New coastal habitat restoration funding available The GMF has issued its annual Request for Preproposals (RFP) for coastal habitat restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Deadline for RFP submissions is July 24, 2006. Read more.
	Twelve 2006 restoration projects underway All eight new Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Program (CRP) projects and all four new Caribbean CRP projects have gotten underway. One new project at McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge in Texas has already been completed resulting in the restoration and stabilization of 1.5 miles of sand dune habitat by constructing sand fence and planting native vegetation. This stabilization will help protect coastal habitat from storm damage. Other new projects include an underwater interpretive trail in Puerto Rico, restoration of oyster reef habitat along the Louisiana coastline, and an innovative submerged aquatic vegetation salvage project in Florida. Read more.


	EDUCATION Science & Spanish Clubs win trip to Orlando, Florida S&S Club members from Texas visit NASA's Space Center in Florida April 2006 - The GMF's Science & Spanish Clubs from El Campo and Palacios, Texas were awarded an all-expense free trip to Florida April 8-10 for winning the Environmental Education category of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Dragonfly Quest National Science Fair competition. The club members flew to Orlando, stayed at a Disney Resort Hotel, spent the night at the Kennedy Space Center and received tickets to a Disney theme park. The winning environmental project was a result of two fieldtrips during which the students learned about the Tres Palacios River, taking pictures and logging their findings. Read more.
	New coral reef workshop for educators offered In addition to the Down Under, Out Yonder teacher dive workshops organized each summer by the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and the GMF, this summer's itinerary featured a two-day land-based Corals to Classrooms (C2C) workshop without the SCUBA component. The workshop, designed for non-divers, was held July 11-12 at the FGBNMS headquarters in Galveston, Texas. Ten educators participated in the C2C workshop the first day then visited Moody Gardens Aquarium to practice reef fish identification on the second day. Eighteen SCUBA-certified educators participated in this year's DUOY. Read more.

	PARTNERSHIPS Rowan Companies of Houston contributes to GMF June 2006 - Rowan Companies of Houston contributed $25,000 to the Gulf of Mexico Foundation during a meeting on May 18, 2006. This followed a previous donation of $25,000 which Rowan presented to the GMF in November 2005. Rowan's CEO Danny McNease presents Dr. Quenton Dokken, GMF's Executive Director, with a check for $25,000 Rowan employee Paul Kelly who is a member of the GMF board explains the company's dedication to the Gulf: "As a leading offshore drilling contractor in the Gulf of Mexico, Rowan feels very much a part of the Gulf States community and further recognizes that environmental sustainability and economic sustainability must go hand in hand in the 21st century if we are to maintain a good quality of life for all our citizens, including our employees." Read more.

	EVENTS GMF takes part in second annual Coastal Wine Tour May 2006 - GMF project leader Richard Gonzales attended the second stop of the 2006 Coastal Wine Tour May 19-21, 2006 in Orange Beach, Alabama, where he manned a booth, providing information about the Foundation and its preservation efforts in the Gulf region. For the Coastal Wine Tour's kickoff event, Dr. Quenton Dokken represented the GMF at the tour held in Rosemary Beach, Florida, Oct 21-23, 2005. Read more.
	Conference aims to advance marine restoration December 9-13, 2006 - Restore America’s Estuaries’ 3rd National Conference is the premiere nationwide forum focused solely on advancing the knowledge, pace, practice, scale and success of coastal and estuarine habitat restoration. Incorporating the non-profit, government, scientific, business, tribal and academic sectors, the Conference will enable networking and communication throughout this growing movement. Registration materials will be made available in July and August 2006 at http://www.estuaries.org/conference.Contact Kristin Hoelting at (206) 624-9100, ext. 3# or khoelting@estuaries.org for more information. Read more.



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