| Highlights  NOAA has announced the availability of up to $10 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding to continue our work restoring habitat for native Great Lakes fisheries, helping to support local ecosystems, economies, and communities. Proposals are due January 12, 2022. Contact: Julie Simmons. |  NOAA announced the availability of approximately $500,000 in Ruth Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants funding for coral restoration awards in FY22. This coral restoration grant supports coral intervention science towards field application in order to increase coral survivorship and promote resilient, genetically diverse, and reproductively viable coral populations. Proposals are due February 23, 2022. Contact: Liz Fairey. |  To highlight the many benefits oysters bring to our ecosystem, economy, and table, NOAA celebrated oysters in early November. We teamed up with partners inside and outside NOAA to celebrate these dynamic shellfish for an entire week! Learn more through our social media posts, videos, and photo essays highlighting NOAA's work in oyster reef restoration and aquaculture. Contact: Kim Couranz. |  NOAA's Veterans Corps partnerships are building on 9 years of growth, supporting habitat and fisheries restoration projects on the West Coast. The partnerships give military veterans opportunities to build their skills and work experience in habitat and fisheries restoration projects. Although the experiences can be priceless, we also track some of their contributions "by the numbers." Contact: Laurel Jennings. |  Our partner at Restore America's Estuaries has released a new report focused on the economic value of estuaries in the United States. In particular, the report highlights the economic benefits that coastal habitats provide by protecting communities from the impacts of flooding and climate change. Contact: Janine Harris. |  In the St. Louis River Estuary Habitat Focus Area, Native American tribal groups are working with NOAA and other partners to preserve and restore wild rice through habitat mapping, ecosystem service studies, and education and outreach efforts. Northern wild rice, known as manoomin to the Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region, is an ecologically and culturally important local food source. Contact: Michele Miller. |  NOAA and the Deepwater Horizon federal and state Trustee agencies released the 2021 Programmatic Review and interactive story map. This is the first review of multiple years of work across this program restoring habitats, fish, and wildlife impacted by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The comprehensive program review includes analyses of restoration data collected through 2020. So far, $2.4 billion in settlement funds have been committed to more than 200 habitat and resource restoration projects. Contact: Melissa Carle. |  NOAA and the Kalamazoo River Trustees approved 14 projects to restore parts of the watershed—all to be funded with settlement funds from companies responsible for pollution there. The projects were selected from ideas submitted by stakeholders and the public, and include river restoration, dam removals, habitat conservation and other restoration activities. Contact: Julie Simmons. | | | Habitat Across NOAA  When pollution harms American waterways, it's not enough to simply clean up the contamination. Restoring the environment means implementing projects that help habitats, wildlife, and coastal communities recover quickly and completely. In fiscal year 2021, NOAA helped to recover over $130 million to restore 10 polluted waterways after oil spills and industrial pollution. NOAA and partners worked to evaluate the impacts of pollution and reach legal agreements with those responsible for pollution to fund restoration. |  In drought years and when marine heat waves warm the Pacific Ocean, late-migrating juvenile spring-run Chinook salmon of California's Central Valley are the ultimate survivors. According to a recent study, they are among the few salmon that return to spawning rivers in those difficult years to keep their populations alive. |  A new NOAA publication suggests that outreach efforts have been successful in communicating to the public the benefits provided by coral reef ecosystems. Study results indicate that in the U.S. Pacific coral reef basin there is a stronger emphasis on the cultural importance of reefs, higher participation in marine activities, higher seafood consumption, and higher levels of fishing for food or income, suggesting greater cultural and personal provisioning service values among residents. In the U.S. Atlantic coral reef basin, residents have slightly higher values for the protection afforded by coral reefs, suggesting higher regulating service values. The study's findings provide insight into which coral ecosystem services are valued in each region, allowing resource managers to make science-based decisions about how to communicate conservation and management initiatives. | | | Announcements The public comment period will be open for 60 days, closing on December 28, 2021. Since the release of the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Report, NOAA has been actively seeking input from stakeholders. NOAA has received written comments, and heard from stakeholders during a series of virtual listening sessions. All input received since the release of the Report will be considered equally with the input we receive through this Federal Register Notice. Interested persons are invited to submit comments to the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Join the next NOAA virtual public listening sessions on Tuesday, November 16 | 4:00-6:00 PM ET. | | | | |
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