CSO Newsletter
The Coastal States Organization represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resource issues.
Spotlight on Coastal Management:
What are Living Shorelines?
Do you have some time to learn about something new? Check out Restore America's Estuaries' Living Shoreline Academy and learn about living shorelines – what they are, how they are designed and built, and how they serve our coastal habitats and communities. Whether you are a property owner looking for alternatives to mitigate erosion on your shoreline property, or a contractor or a policy maker looking to gain more in depth knowledge about the design and permitting of living shorelines, on this site you can find a course, project databases, literature and additional resources to help you achieve those goals.
2020 National Coastal and Estuarine Summit
Restore America’s Estuaries and the Coastal States Organization co-host  The National Coastal and Estuarine Summit . We bring together the coastal restoration and management communities for integrated discussions to explore issues, solutions, and lessons learned in their work. The Summit explores cutting-edge issues in coastal restoration and management and highlights the latest research through interactive sessions, plenary speakers, and poster presentations.  Learn more .

Proposals for Oral Presentations are due on April 17th ! Learn more here .
In the States and Regions
East Coast and Caribbean
The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has awarded funding for seven habitat restoration projects in the 17th year of its Rhode Island Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund. Read more

9 NC Resiliency Projects Receive Millions
Nine projects in coastal North Carolina have been awarded millions in funding to go toward improving community resilience and wildlife habitat. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, or NFWF, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management announced more than $43 million in grants have been awarded to 27 natural and nature-based infrastructure projects nationwide. The projects are to help recover from hurricanes Michael and Florence, Typhoon Yutu, and the California coastal wildfires of 2018, which together caused more than $50 billion in damage and severely degraded a range of wildlife habitats. Read more
Great Lakes
Wetland Wisdom: Documentary Looks at Breakthrough in Great Lakes Wetland Research
When talk about the U.S. EPA requesting wetland research proposals and funding them with $10 million started in 2010, Central Michigan University Professor Don Uzarski was “more than surprised.” “When I first heard of the funding, I assumed that it was a rumor gone out of control,” Uzarski said. The money came from the initial Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants the Obama administration put in its first budget. Read more

Disappearing beaches, crumbling roads: Lake Michigan cities face 'heartbreaking' erosion
Just three months ago, Lake Michigan’s waters were more than 50 feet away from Lakeview Drive in the small town of Beverly Shores, with a beach in between the road and the water. But after multiple storms, the waters now have eaten the beach, the double-flight of stairs down to it, and more than 3 million pounds of sandbags that were urgently placed there in an effort to stall erosion. Read more
West Coast and Pacific
New Data for the Black Oystercatcher: Oregon’s Iconic Bird of the Rocky Coastline
A new study finds the Oregon black oystercatcher breeding population is small but stable with only several hundred individuals. This distinctive bird is considered a Bird of Conservation Concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service due to its dependence on rocky shoreline habitats, its rarity and vulnerability to threats including climate change and human disturbance. This study relied on members of the public - “community scientists” - to help collect data. It is timely as Oregon is updating it coastal rocky habitat management plan which will guide habitat protection decisions that may impact this species. Read more

Coastal Pollution Reduces Genetic Diversity of Corals, Reef Resilience
A new study published in the journal  PeerJ  by researchers at the  University of Hawaii  found that human-induced environmental stressors have a large effect on the genetic composition of coral reef populations in Hawaii. The  National Science Foundation -funded scientists confirmed that there is an ongoing loss of sensitive genotypes in nearshore coral populations due to stressors from poor land-use practices and coastal pollution. This reduced genetic diversity compromises reef resilience. Read more
Gulf
Governor Tate Reeves Announces Over $51 Million in GOMESA Funds for Mississippi
Governor Tate Reeves announced that a total of $51,913,975.74 has been awarded to Mississippi through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). The federal passage in 2006 of GOMESA created revenue sharing provisions for the four Gulf oil and gas producing States of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and their coastal political subdivisions. The projects that receive this funding will be administered by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR). Read more

Ten Years After Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill, Marine Wildlife Struggles to Recover
A decade after the nation’s worst offshore oil spill, dolphins, turtles and other wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico are still seriously at risk, according to a report released Tuesday. The fact that the Gulf hasn’t fully recovered is “hardly surprising given the enormity of the disaster,” said David Muth, director of the Gulf of Mexico Restoration Program for the National Wildlife Federation, which authored the report. Read more
Events & Webinars
Announcements
American Shore and Beach Preservation Association
ASBPA is reaching out to coastal managers nationwide to take this 7-minute  survey  to share the coastal management challenges you and your organization feel most ill-equipped to deal with in your day to day duties. ASBPA will use this information to advocate for science-based policy and to recommend topics for user-inspired coastal research funding to help address these challenges. ASBPA is working with the U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP) and the USGS Coastal Marine Hazards Research Program on this survey to evaluate coastal practitioners’ roles and responsibilities, management challenges, and preferred methods of data and tool delivery. The survey will close April 15, 2020 . The results of this short 7-minute survey will inform USCRP coastal research investments and guide future ASBPA Science & Technology activities.

Evaluating Coastal and Nearshore Habitat Projects and Data Needs in the Great Lakes
NOAA and Great Lakes coastal zone management programs brought together partners to identify and evaluate potential habitat projects, along with data needs and gaps, through a series of workshops. Learn more about this effort here .

NOAA Photo Contest: Coastal Management in Action
Coastal management comes in many shapes and sizes. From ensuring public access to balancing development with natural areas, coastal management keeps our coasts thriving. For the fourth annual coastal management photo contest, NOAA's Office for Coastal Management wants to see your photos of coastal management in action. Show off your natural infrastructure projects, beautiful beaches you work to protect, recreational uses, and more! Find inspiration from the list of nine categories. Submit photos to the fourth Coastal Management photo contest . Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges and will be featured in the office's social media campaign during the month of May. Submit your photos here by May 8, 2020 .

FEMA BRIC Stakeholder Feedback Summary Released
FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance program released the  Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)  grant program  Stakeholder Feedback Summary  and a condensed stakeholder feedback  fact sheet . This summary is compiled from stakeholder feedback garnished through the 2019 stakeholder engagement process. These documents are released in advanced of the anticipated publication of BRIC policy in the Federal Register for public comment. Please keep an eye out for the upcoming opportunity to supply comment on the BRIC proposed policy publication.

Softening Our Shorelines: Policy and Practice for Living Shorelines Along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts
Softening Our Shorelines is designed to promote the broader application of living shorelines across the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. National Wildlife Federation partnered with the Coastal States Organization to review the use of living shorelines across these regions and analyze policies and permitting requirements that may provide incentives—or barriers—to the broader use of these ecologically friendly shoreline protection techniques. The report provides a state-by-state summary of policies relevant to living shorelines and offers recommendations and best practices for how federal and state agencies can promote the increased application of living shorelines. Read the report here .

New Virtual Training: Introduction to Lidar 
Quickly learn the basics of lidar in this virtual training, including how lidar is gathered and how to put it to good use. The interactive style of this module will help get you get up to speed on lidar data products—without the technical jargon. Skip to the information you need to do your job, while cutting out the portions you already know or don’t need. Topics include a typical project workflow, lidar lingo, and the kinds of questions lidar data can answer. Learn more and register  here.

Long Island Sound Futures Fund 2020 Request for Proposals
The Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF) is seeking proposals to protect and restore the health and living resources of Long Island Sound (Sound). Approximately $3 million is expected to be available for grants in 2020. The program is managed by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Long Island Sound Study (LISS), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Proposals are due June 2, 2020 . Learn more here .

Request for Proposals: Long Island Quality of Water Integrated Data System
The Long Island Regional Planning Council is inviting proposals from qualified candidates to provide direct assistance, coordination, and administration for the Long Island Quality of Water Integrated Data System project. Proposals are due April 20, 2020 . Learn more here .

Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation Regional Workshops
CERF announces the availability of funding to support regional workshops in collaboration with CERF’s Affiliate Societies on high priority scientific and management issues of regional importance. These pilot workshops are intended to explore ways in which the Affiliate Societies and CERF can work together to translate and apply coastal and estuarine science to important regional issues. Workshops should take place between August 2020 and June 2021. Proposals are due May 1, 2020 . Learn more here .
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The views expressed in articles referenced here are those of the authors and do not represent or reflect the views of CSO.

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