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Foundation forms partnership with Southern Breeze
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» GMF Partnerships
Coastal Wine Tour
The first two Coastal Wine Tours held this spring brought hundreds of participants to sample food and wine while learning more about
the Gulf of Mexico. The four-part Wine Tour began with events in Mississippi
and Alabama and concludes this fall (see schedule at left). The Coastal Wine Tours are organized by Southern
Breeze Magazine, which believes the quality of the natural environment equates to quality
of life. To help support the Foundation's efforts to preserve the Gulf coast, the magazine reserves a prominent
place within each Wine Tour for the Foundation's display booth where staff
members are on hand to distribute information and educate people about
the Gulf and the Foundation.
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Gulf of Mexico Community-Based Restoration Program
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» Current Projects
Nine new acres of oyster reef habitat
This pile of oyster shells
at a St. Louis Bay plant near Biloxi, Miss., was transported by barge
to help create nine-acres new reef habitat this spring as part of the
Gulf of
Mexico Community-Based Restoration Program, a grant funded by NOAA
and the EPA and administered by the GMF. This project, entitled, "Creation of Two New Oyster Reefs to
Improve Coastal Water Quality and to Provide Critical Fish Habitat"
was one of eight CRP projects funded in 2004. The Mississippi Dept. of
Marine Resources received a CRP grant for $24,990 to conduct the
restoration project. |
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» Year 2005
Restoration Funding Available Soon
A new Request for
Proposals will soon be available for those interested in applying for
the Gulf of Mexico Community-Based Restoration Program (CRP) grants for 2005.
The GMF has administered the grant for NOAA and the
EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program since 2001. The CRP grant has awarded millions
of dollars in funding to support hundreds of acres of marine habitat
restoration in the five Gulf states, restoring
wetlands, maritime forest, bayou, and riparian areas. Visit the Gulf of
Mexico Foundation's
Restoration webpage for more information.
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» GMF Board hosts reception
 The
Gulf of Mexico Foundation’s Board of Directors
hosted a "Spring Reception" in May at the Petroleum Club of Houston, inviting those interested
in the Foundation to share a relaxing evening with the board. The
event was organized by Diane LaRue and included an appetizing
buffet. Guests at the reception included industry representatives
who are interested in the continued
health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico.
Photo: GMF Board of Directors
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» Dive Workshops
The Gulf of Mexico Foundation, in partnership with the Flower Garden
Banks National Marine Sanctuary, will continue
to bring teachers to the reef this summer by sponsoring the ninth annual "Down Under, Out Yonder" dive workshop for educators.
The five-day workshop, to be held July 10-14 in Galveston, Texas, will include lectures about fish identification,
coral reef ecology, offshore energy production and the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program.
Following the lectures, participants will tour the Moody Gardens
Aquarium Caribbean tunnel and test their fish identification skills
before they head offshore to go diving. The land-based workshop will
be followed by three days of scuba diving at the Flower Garden Banks
National Marine Sanctuary from the live-aboard boat, the M/V Fling
operated by Gulf Diving LLC.
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» New GMF staff
Eliana C. Walker is the new
staff member handling office duties and grant administration at the
Gulf of Mexico Foundation headquarters in Corpus Christi. A native
of Colombia, Ms Walker is fluent in Spanish and English and
previously worked as a website translator at Texas A&M Corpus
Christi. In her free time she enjoys flying small planes and
windsurfing. Ms. Walker replaces Carrie Robertson who
continues to maintain and update the GMF website at
gulfmex.org.
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Fall 2004
The Gulf of Mexico
Foundation has been nominated for the 2004 Gulf Guardian Awards,
presented annually by the