Artificial Nesting Platforms in Minnesota Help Restore Injured Loons

When common loons returned this year to their Minnesota freshwater lakes for the summer breeding season, some of them found new homes waiting: artificial nesting platforms to help boost breeding success. These nesting platforms are provided by the Open Ocean Trustees’ Restoration of Common Loons in Minnesota project. This project addresses some of the injury to common loons caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Mississippi Trustees Seek Public Comment on Draft Restoration Plan 4

The Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group has released its Draft Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats, Nutrient Reduction, and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities (PDF, 377 pages) for public review and comment through October 2, 2023. The plan proposes seven projects for implementation. These projects have a combined cost of approximately $26 million.

Louisiana Breaks Ground on Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion

Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) broke ground on August 10, 2023 on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project at Mississippi River Mile 60.7 in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Representatives of many state and federal agencies, non-profits, and the surrounding communities attended the kick-off of this important restoration and land-building project. 

Florida Trustees Initiate Planning for Third Post-Settlement Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment

The Florida Trustee Implementation Group is drafting its third post-settlement restoration plan and environmental assessment to address natural resource injuries caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We began this restoration planning effort in November 2022 by requesting project ideas from the public. We greatly appreciate your input in response to the request for project ideas. 

Big Eyes, Looking Out for Birds and Marine Mammals

Setting sail from Mississippi in June into the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists are scanning the horizon with their “big eyes” binoculars for the next several months, on the lookout for birds and marine mammals that can best be seen from sea. 

Inventory of Northern Gulf of Mexico Deep Seafloor Habitat Data and Maps Now Available

More than 770 square miles, or 2,000 square kilometers, of deep seafloor habitat surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico were injured by the 2010 spill. Additionally, more than four square miles of the Pinnacles deep-sea reef complex, located at the edge of the continental shelf, were also injured by the spill.  

Successful restoration of these low-light, hard-to-reach seafloor habitats, or mesophotic and deep benthic areas, requires detailed knowledge of the habitats and ecological communities there. 

A new publication from the Open Ocean Trustees’ Mesophotic and

Monitoring and Adaptive Management Activity Approved to Evaluate Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Restoration

The Open Ocean Trustees have approved a new Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Activity (PDF, 15 pages) that will develop a framework to evaluate the cumulative outcomes of marine mammal and sea turtle restoration in the Open Ocean Restoration Area.   

For both resources, a problem-solving method referred to as Structured Decision Making (SDM), with expert elicitation techniques will be used to quantify the benefits of Open Ocean restoration actions. The project will start by compiling existing data on marine mammal and sea turtle restoration. This data will be used to develop

Mississippi Trustees Support Fire Management Activities at Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Wildland fire crews from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf Coast Complex Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge Student Conservation Association recently burned 187 acres of mixed forest, shrub and grass lands as part of ongoing fire management activities at the refuge. In fact, slightly more than 600 acres of Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge have been treated with prescribed fire this spring to support the Grand Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management project.  

This project will restore and enhance marine, coastal, estuarine, and riparian habitats for the benefit of resources