In February 2021, Texas experienced a historic cold snap that created many hardships for people and wildlife alike. As a result, February 14, 2021 marked the beginning of the largest sea turtle cold stunning event in the U.S. since record keeping began.

Researchers at Texas A&M Corpus Christi found that during this historic event water temperatures along the Gulf coast fell to a low of 34 degrees Fahrenheit and an air temperature low in the area of 20 degrees. At water temperatures below 50 degrees, sea turtles become cold-stunned, that is, their heart rates and circulation slow and they

Outreach materials are now available from the June 17 Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Trustee Council’s annual meeting webinar. This virtual event, the Trustees’ sixth annual public meeting, provided an update on our work since our last meeting in July 2020. It also included a 30-minute Open House during which Trustee Implementation Group members were available to discuss projects and answer questions.

You can view all the materials presented at the meeting—including the presentations and fact sheets—below.

The Trustees and representatives of the seven Trustee Implementation Groups

The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is beginning the process of drafting a Deepwater Horizon restoration plan to address the restoration goals of “Restore and Conserve Habitat.”  

The plan will consider projects under the Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats restoration type. Development of the Restoration Plan will be consistent with the Trustees’ Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan, the Oil Pollution Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, their implementing regulations, and all applicable Federal and Louisiana law.

We began this restoration planning effort

The Florida Trustee Implementation Group has approved its Final Restoration Plan 2 and Environmental Assessment (PDF, 489 pages). The plan includes 18 selected projects that address five natural resource restoration types:

• Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands
• Sea Turtles
• Marine Mammals
• Birds
• Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities

One project addresses both the Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands and the Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities restoration types.

We released the Draft Restoration Plan 2 and Environmental Assessment on February 19, 2021 and

Brown pelicans were severely impacted during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A massive rescue effort took place immediately following the spill. As a result, yet another of the 582 rescued and rehabilitated pelicans has made its way back to the Louisiana coast in a wonderful display of resiliency.

In the summer of 2020, we shared good news about pelican“A04” -- named after the tracking tag placed on its leg – which had returned to a newly restored Queen Bess Island. Now, less than a year after that sighting, we have more good news of a resident returning home.

In June 2010, pelican

The Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group has initiated drafting of its third restoration plan.

We began this restoration planning effort in October 2020, by requesting project ideas from the public that could benefit natural resources within the following Restoration Types:

• Marine mammals
• Birds
• Habitat projects on federally managed lands
• Recreational opportunities
• Sea turtles

The Draft Restoration Plan 3 may include proposed projects for some or all of the restoration types listed above and may propose activities necessary to fill essential data gaps for restoration of resources

June 5 through 13 is National Fishing and Boating Week, a celebration highlighting the importance of recreational boating and fishing to our nation. Using settlement funding to implement restoration projects that improve boating access, the Florida Trustee Implementation Group is making valuable contributions to the recreational boating community within the State of Florida.

The "Strategically Provided Boat Access Along Florida's Gulf Coast" project was approved as part of the 2014 Phase III Early Restoration Plan and has been implemented by the Florida Trustee Implementation Group. The

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held an interactive webinar on April 29, 2021. Trustee staff provided updates on planning and projects, and we asked for feedback from attendees about various engagement topics through interactive polls. We had more than 60 people in attendance, sharing helpful input on:

• Familiarity with restoration in the Gulf of Mexico
• Interest in planning, projects, monitoring and other activities
• Interest in the different Open Ocean restoration types
• How attendees receive information online and at outreach events

Some early, high-level results showed

In what turned out to be an extremely challenging 2020 due to the global pandemic, the Deepwater Horizon Trustees continued the fifth year of post-settlement restoration. Annual reports on all of the Trustees’ restoration activities and an annual financial summary are now available. We provide these reports each year to help stakeholders and communities stay up to date on our work.

The Trustee Council will hold its sixth annual public meeting and open house via webinar this year due to current nationwide health concerns. The meeting date is June 17, 2021.