Open Ocean

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Trail Enhancement Project

This project repaired and enhanced the existing Jeff Friend Trail located on the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in coastal Alabama. The aged boardwalk and gravel trail were repaired and improved to enhance access by persons with disabilities and the quality of visitor experience. Construction of an observation platform along the trail and the widening of two accessible parking spaces to better accommodate visitors were also completed. The project is not expected to significantly increase visitation, but does provide a safe and enhanced experience for visitors to the refuge.

Bike and Pedestrian Use Enhancements Project, Davis Bayou, Mississippi District, Gulf Islands National Seashore

This project partially restored lost recreational opportunities on lands owned by the Department of the Interior caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill by improving future visitor use and experiences at the Davis Bayou Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Project objectives were to implement roadway improvements for the benefit of bicyclists and pedestrians by widening a 1.82-mile length of Park Road from Highway 90 to Robert McGhee Rd. Two multiple-use bicycle-pedestrian lanes -- one on each side of the road -- have been constructed.

Gulf Islands National Seashore Ferry Project

The goal of this restoration project was to restore a portion of the lost visitor use of Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) caused by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill by providing two 150-passenger ferry vessels for use in Pensacola Bay and for traveling between the City of Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, and the Fort Pickens area of GUIS.

The restoration "approach" (from the PDARP/PEIS) is to "enhance public access to natural resources for recreational use" and the "technique" is to "construct recreational infrastructure."

Beach Enhancement Project at Gulf Islands National Seashore

This project enhances recreational use and visitor satisfaction by removing asphalt debris (primarily asphalt fragments and road-base rock) from the beach sand at Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS). This debris has been scattered widely over some or all of 2,017 acres and 14 linear miles of the Fort Pickens, Santa Rosa, and Perdido Key areas of the National Park Service (NPS) Florida District of GUIS. There is a small, two-mile-long stretch on the Gulf side of the Fort Pickens area where fragments of the old road were removed from the tidal zone.

Information From Louisiana and Open Ocean Trustees Webinar on Draft Restoration Plan for Chandeleur Islands

The Louisiana and Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Groups held a virtual public meeting for the Draft Joint Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #1: Restoring Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats, Federally Managed Lands, Fish and Water Column Invertebrates, Sea Turtles, Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, and Birds of the Chandeleur Islands on June 26, 2025.

Louisiana and Open Ocean Trustees Release Draft Restoration Plan for Chandeleur Islands

The Louisiana and Open Ocean Deepwater Horizon Trustees have released their Draft Joint Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #1: Restoring Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats, Federally Managed Lands, Fish and Water Column Invertebrates, Sea Turtles, Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, and Birds of the Chandeleur Islands for public review and comment.

$210 Million for Fish and Sea Turtle Restoration Approved in Fourth Open Ocean Restoration Plan

The Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group released its Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Fish and Water Column Invertebrates and Sea Turtles, committing more than $210 million to ten projects to help restore natural resources injured by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf. Six projects will help restore fish and water column invertebrates, and four projects will help restore sea turtles. These ten projects will be implemented over the next 8 to 15 years. The selected restoration projects include several activities that build upon previous Deepwater Horizon restoration projects as well as new activities to meet the Trustees’ restoration goals.