On July 6, NOAA, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and other partners released 21 baby terrapins on Chenier Ronquille barrier island. We restored the island using early restoration funding received after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The restoration at Chenier Ronquille was part of a larger effort to restore four barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana. Construction began in February 2016. That summer, our contractor discovered terrapin nests on the island. We worked with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife

The Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group has released its first restoration plan. The plan addresses some of the natural resource injuries resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Mississippi. 

The Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group 2016-2017 Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment evaluates a range of restoration alternatives and identifies the preferred alternatives. After considering the analysis and public comments, we selected three projects for implementation: 

• Wetlands, Coastal, Nearshore Habitat/Birds restoration type
  
  • Graveline Bay Land Acquisition and

The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is encouraging the public to participate in scoping for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is developing an EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the project. The Corps will use the EIS to inform its decision-making for permits and permissions for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project.

In April, we announced that we are conducting two phases of restoration for Barataria Basin. The first phase will prepare a strategic restoration plan for

The Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group (TIG) has released four strategic frameworks to assist with restoration planning. They were developed for restoration types allocated across multiple Restoration Areas which are oysters, sea turtles, birds, and marine mammals. They provide broad context and guidance for project selection and implementation.

The impacts to the Gulf were massive and widespread, so restoration needs to be considered at an ecosystem-wide scale. These frameworks will help us consider resources at an ecosystem level, while implementing restoration at a local level. They

The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is beginning to draft a restoration plan to address lost recreational opportunities caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The plan will include projects under the “Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities” restoration type. It will be consistent with the Trustees’ programmatic restoration plan. The plan will evaluate up to $22 million in projects using funds that had been originally allocated to the Louisiana Marine Fisheries Enhancement, Research, and Science Center early restoration project.

We began this restoration planning effort on

The Texas Trustee Implementation Group has released a draft restoration plan and environmental assessment. The plan includes restoration projects to compensate for the injury to natural resources and lost recreational use caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The plan is consistent with the Trustees’ programmatic restoration plan.

We began this restoration planning process in June 2016, when we asked for restoration project ideas from the public. We reviewed more than 800 proposed restoration projects and we included 13 preferred projects from that list in the draft plan. For this draft

The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is planning activities to address lost recreational opportunities caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We would like your input regarding natural resource restoration opportunities in Louisiana. 



The Trustees allocated $22 million to the Louisiana Marine Fisheries Enhancement, Research, and Science Center project in the third phase of early restoration. The Science Center was intended to provide the public with educational and recreational opportunities. Due to site issues that arose during planning and development, the project will no longer

The Open Ocean Restoration Area webinar was held on April 27, 2017 from 12:00-1:30 EST. The webinar introduced the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group and provided an overview of the settlement as well as early and initial restoration planning processes. We discussed our request for project ideas and our restoration goals and priorities, as well as next steps. The webinar had more than 200 attendees.

We are accepting project ideas through May 15, 2017. You can submit a project idea to our portal, or send questions to openocean.TIG@noaa.gov.

Unfortunately, due to a technical issue we do

The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is conducting strategic restoration planning. We will be considering two phases of restoration. The first phase will prepare a strategic restoration plan for Louisiana’s Barataria Basin. The second plan will initiate restoration planning for projects identified in the phase 1 plan, potentially including the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. 

Phase 1 Plan

The Barataria Basin strategic restoration plan will consider identifying habitat restoration components of the Louisiana Draft 2017 Coastal Master Plan to restore wetland, coastal, and nearshore

Sailing towards Pensacola’s Plaza de Luna under a late afternoon sun, two new passenger ferries were greeted by a crowd of excited local residents. The ferries were built as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore Ferry Project, which is being implemented by the Department of the Interior.

For years, local residents have hoped for passenger ferry service connecting Gulf Island National Seashore, downtown Pensacola, and Pensacola Beach. Construction of the ferries began in January 2016 in Bellingham, Washington. Once completed, they traveled 1,900 nautical miles over the course of three