Coastal Steward of the Year

Ms. Maria Brown, Executive Director
Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

The Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association (FMSA) was one of the first non-profit associations in the Marine Sanctuary Program. Since 1995, FMSA Executive Director Maria Brown has demonstrated exemplary leadership in integrating human and wildlife uses of several sensitive areas of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Cordell Bank, and the northern area of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary near San Francisco. By combining public education with direct involvement in resource conservation, FMSA has been instrumental in recruiting a dedicated and involved volunteer base to carry out the objectives of the sanctuary. Under the leadership of Ms. Brown, FMSA developed a program using volunteer monitors to educate potentially disturbing human users such as boaters and clammers about resident harbor seal populations. The program has succeeded in protecting seals and allowing human uses of the habitats. The volunteers have reduced 95 percent of the disturbance to harbor seals from clam diggers on Clam and Seal Islands in Tomales Bay. Ms. Brown has also led efforts to develop a Paddling Etiquette Guidelines Brochure for kayakers, increased sanctuary visitation by establishing visitor's centers, and developed a program in conjunction with a local high school to monitor the health of the rocky intertidal habitat at Duxbury reef, north of San Francisco.

Excellence in Coastal and Marine Graduate Study

Mr. Braxton Davis
University of Rhode Island

Mr. Davis has focused on the potentials for and limitations to state and local-level coastal program evaluations. He has devised an innovative approach to advancing the goals of coastal zone management through evaluation that respects the diversity of state interests, environments and program performance indicators. Mr. Davis is also assisting NOAA in creating an inventory of Special Area Management Plans (SAMPs), in an effort to better understand how coastal programs are utilizing special management areas to achieve local and state objectives. The outcome of this unique and ambitious research will be a valuable contribution to resource management program evaluations in general and coastal area management in particular.

Mr. David Canny
Duke University

Mr. Canny has concentrated on marine reserve issues, helping to streamline an oceanographic model to predict suitable sites for Marine Protected Areas or artificial reefs. He has been working to assess the connection, role and management of artificial reefs, shipwrecks and rock formations off the coast of North Carolina. His innovative work will support coastal conservation by providing one of the first detailed looks at this offshore network of critical marine habitats. Mr. Canny is also completing a Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship; he is assigned to NOAA's Special Projects Office.

Dr. Umaporn Silphaduang
North Carolina State University

Dr. Silphaduang's Sea Grant-funded research focused on the molecular immunology of nonspecific defenses in fish. She used as her model the hybrid striped bass, one of the most important aquaculture species in the U.S. Dr. Silphaduang succeeded in identifying and isolating a novel class of peptide antibiotics, which have been named piscidins, from hybrid striped bass. Piscidins are a totally new type of peptide antibiotic and they display potent, broad-spectrum antibiotic activity. Peptide antibiotics are very active against multidrug-resistant bacteria both from fish and humans. Dr. Silphaduang has also discovered that these peptides can be isolated from many tissues of hybrid striped bass and may also be present in other commercially important fish that are unrelated to hybrid striped bass.

Dr. Alex Brylske, Senior Editor
Dive Training Magazine

Dr. Brylske completed his graduate studies in marine science education at the Florida Institute of Technology. As part of his research in adult education and recreation ecology, he developed an innovative program to train dive tour operators and resource managers in how to reduce tourism-related damage to coral reef ecosystems. Since its inception in 1999, Dr. Brylske has offered his unique program throughout the US, Caribbean, Red Sea and Southeast Asia to nearly 400 participants from more than 17 countries. Dr. Brylske is a former member for the Florida Governor's Ocean Committee, and Board Member of the Coral Reef Alliance. Currently, he serves as the Marine Conservation and Education Specialist with the Project AWARE Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting aquatic ecosystems through public awareness and education. Dr. Brylske is also an adjunct Professor at Edison Community College's Charlotte County campus where he teaches oceanography. In addition, he serves as Senior Editor of Dive Training magazine.

Excellence in Local Government

Jefferson Parish Government

Jefferson Parish Government is using innovative approaches to effectively manage, develop and protect its coastal zone. The parish's coastal zone management program is very effective in advancing the goals of the Coastal Zone Management Act at the local level. In addition to regulating development activities that impact the coastal zone, the coastal zone management program also designs, seeks funding for, and implements projects to combat coastal erosion and promote marsh restoration. The parish developed a comprehensive Coastal Wetland Conservation and Restoration Plan in 1993 in an effort to provide a long-term solution to coastal erosion and wetland loss. The coastal zone management program has secured more than $41 million in state and federal funding through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act for wetland restoration projects that benefit marshes in Jefferson Parish.

St. Lucie County Mosquito Control District

The St. Lucie County Mosquito Control District has focused on wetland preservation and restoration activities since 1982. Those efforts have culminated in public acquisition of more than 1,700 acres of coastal wetlands, and restoration of over 3,000 acres. The District's advances in wetland management have resulted in water quality improvements, wading bird foraging success (to be featured in a small way in the BBC's Blue Ocean Series coming out on the Discovery channel at the first of the year), and year-round fishery recruitment to the coastal wetlands of Saint Lucie County, which prior to 1982 were completely isolated from the Indian River Lagoon. Restoration of the wetlands has advanced the biological integrity and biodiversity of the South Indian River Lagoon, effectively advancing the goals and objectives of the Coastal Zone Management Act at the local level.

Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency

The Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency (CRERPA) is a leader in Connecticut coastal management planning and implementation, and exemplifies effectiveness in advancing the goals of the Coastal Zone Management Act at the local level. The Agency serves as a model for other regional and local land use authorities in its continuing efforts to increase public awareness of coastal issues and its use of innovative techniques. The Agency has established two canoe and sea kayak trails, the first of their kind in the state, and also developed companion laminated trail guides and interpretive signage along the trails. CRERPA worked with the Office of Long Island Sound Programs to provide much-needed outreach after several state legislative amendments went into effect in 1991. An example of CRERPA's innovative efforts in increasing public awareness of coastal management issues is the quarterly television program that CRERPA produces for the public access channel on their region's cable television station. Even in the performance of their day-to-day responsibilities as regional planners, CRERPA can always be counted on to provide thoughtful and meaningful coastal management assistance to its member communities.

U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources

The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources has been a critical component of efforts to develop a marine park management plan and to use the plan to establish marine protected areas within the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Department has worked in coordination with federal agencies that have jurisdiction over areas outside of the territorial waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands and also participates in the U.S. All Islands Coral Reef Initiative Coordinating Committee. The Committee has made significant contributions to improving the management of coral reefs within its waters. In addition, the Committee has helped to raise awareness of the importance of coral reefs to local communities and the alarming decline and loss of coral reefs in the U.S. and internationally. Committee members have also represented their governments on the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, established in 1998, where they have been instrumental in shaping the national agenda for long-term protection and management of these important natural resources.

Volunteer of the Year

Mr. James Holland
Altamaha Riverkeeper

Mr. Holland began working coastal Georgia's rivers and estuaries as a commercial crabber 30 years ago. During his years as a commercial fisherman, he observed many changes not only in the blue crab fishery, but in the recreational fishery as well. The answers to his questions about the declines in the fisheries caused him to understand the inter-related and connected nature of the many elements of the environment. Mr. Holland began working to protect the coastal rivers and estuaries that he loved. He helped develop the regulation requiring escape rings in Georgia crab traps and continues to fight for a regulation prohibiting the commercial capture of egg-bearing sponge crabs. Mr. Holland helped forge an effective coalition of commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, environmentalists, academics, regulators, municipal officials and legislators. For the first time, traditional antagonists agreed on a common approach to address the deteriorating quality of Georgia's coastal waters. The water quality mandate developed by major coastal groups became the driving force for new research and outreach efforts. Mr. Holland went to the Georgia State Legislation and secured $304,000 earmarked for water quality research in coastal Georgia. He became a leading voice effectively opposing the injection of surface water into coastal aquifers. Mr. Holland formed the Altamaha Riverkeeper in January 1999 to establish a protective program for Georgia's largest coastal river.

Non-governmental Organization of the Year

American Fisheries Society

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) has made available a collection of articles and policy statements to inform policy makers and the general public about marine stocks at risk. The material is the result of a recently concluded three-year study. The Marine Stocks at Risk Project uses peer-reviewed studies to identify North American stocks of marine fish at risk of extinction. In November 2000, the first AFS-recognized list of at-risk marine and estuarine fishes, and fish that live part of their lives in both marine and fresh water (exclusive of Pacific salmonids) was published in AFS' monthly magazine, Fisheries. Eighty-two species or subspecies are found to be vulnerable to extirpation and 22 may be vulnerable to global extinction. The lasting effects of such a project include raising public awareness of the dangers facing some marine stocks and the need for good management plans. In addition, the criteria can and will be applied to other coastal marine stocks. 

Excellence in Promoting Diversity in Coastal or Ocean Resource Management

Mr. Mel E. Moon, Jr., Director
Quileute Natural Resources

In his capacity as Director of the Quileute Tribes Natural Resources, Mr. Moon has impressed many with a long career dedicated to inclusiveness in management of the marine resources and habitats of the west coast of the U.S. Mr. Moon has sought to encourage the education and careers of tribal members in marine resource management through programs between the tribes and the University of Washington. He has hired and directed non-Indians of many ethnic backgrounds and professional training; he manages to bridge the communication barriers and to build a common sense of purpose and commitment to top-quality marine resource management among a diverse set of people. Mr. Moon works with other tribes of the state and region through the North West Indian Fisheries Commission. As co-managers of the fish resources, the commissioners must harmonize management policies among tribal fisheries in the "usual and accustomed" tribal fishing areas. Mr. Moon has been a leader in the monitoring of harmful algal blooms, concern for marine protected areas and identification of deep-sea trawl bycatch damage to ocean fisheries stocks. Mr. Moon has also served in a number of capacities in federal fisheries and forest management contexts. Furthermore, Mr. Moon has been appointed to the NAFTA Governmental Advisory Committee.

Excellence in Business Leadership

Public Service Enterprise Group

The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), based in New Jersey, is a publicly traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of approximately $6 billion. PSEG's Estuary Enhancement Program (EEP) is an innovative solution to an environmental issue that balances the needs of natural resources and the societal need for safe, dependable economic power. The EEP is addressing complex environmental issues in ways that are providing substantial long-term, broad-based benefits for the natural resources of the estuary and the coastal zone. The EEP is a comprehensive program designed to promote aquatic productivity through a combination of innovative environmental improvement initiatives. One aspect of the EEP is a large-scale wetland restoration program. The EEP is the largest privately funded wetlands restoration program of its kind in the country. Through the EEP, more than 20,000 acres of degraded salt marsh and upland buffers along the Delaware Estuary in both New Jersey and Delaware are being restored, enhanced and/or preserved. PSEG is restoring these degraded wetlands to their natural condition, i.e., tidal salt marsh to provide expanded spawning/nursery habitat and food resources needed by fish, including important coastal migratory species, as well as other aquatic life and migratory wildfowl. This, in turn, will promote increased aquatic resource production and biodiversity in the estuary. All lands involved in the EEP are preserved in perpetuity with a conservation deed restriction that runs with the land or is owned by a governmental agency. 

Excellence is Coastal Zone Management

Dr. Stuart Stevens, Manager
Georgia Coastal Management Program

Under the leadership of Dr. Stevens, coastal zone management in Georgia has taken on an innovative face that stands out among other states. Regulatory functions are an important component of the Georgia Coastal Management Program, but Dr. Stevens believes that command and control tactics are suitable only for short-term solutions. He believes also that a long-term balance between economic development and natural resource protection and conservation must be built on a mutual understanding of values. Because of those beliefs, Dr. Stevens has made technical assistance, not regulation, the hallmark of the Georgia Coastal Management Program. Dr. Stevens has also made public awareness and education a primary component of the Georgia Coastal Management Program. One innovative and effective approach to education is illustrated by the Coastal Ark, which is a fully functional, technology equipped, mobile classroom designed to bring the training experience directly to the learner. He also established the Georgia Coastal Incentive Grant Program. To help provide tools and other resources to coastal communities, the Georgia Coastal Management Program contributes more than 60 percent of Georgia's Section 306 administrative allocation to eligible entities in the form of competitive Coastal Incentive Grants. Dr. Stevens has also improved communication among stakeholders, streamlined permitting procedures, and taken an active role in coastal hazard preparedness and response.

Excellence in Estuarine Research Reserve Management

Dr. John Taggart, Manager
North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve

Dr. Taggart oversaw the creation of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve (NCNERR). After formulating memoranda of understanding with a variety of state and federal agencies and non-profit groups to provide adequate supervision of an expanding system of sites, he now serves on the board of directors of both the Masonboro Society and the Carolina Estuarine Reserve Foundation, nonprofits that support acquisition and program development of the NCNERR. Dr. Taggart has long supported human dimension research at the sites in order to provide the management they need to be exemplary examples of North Carolina estuarine ecology, while being available to citizens for education, research and recreation. The research and education programs have flourished under Dr. Taggart's management. Last year, the education program won a Governor's Award for Excellence in Innovation for developing live Internet field trips for school children to visit the reserve sites. The research program provides leadership for the System-wide Monitoring Program and conducts research valuable to state managers. The stewardship program extends not only to the NCNERR's four components but, like the education program, to the additional five estuarine and coastal sites the Division of Coastal Management has chosen to protect under the Coastal Reserve moniker. Management of the NCNERR is the realization of a deep and abiding interest in natural areas that grew from mentoring by a neighborhood biology professor during Dr. Taggart's childhood in the Chicago suburbs.

Excellence in Marine Sanctuary Management

Dr. John Broadwater, Manager
Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, North Carolina

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was the first marine sanctuary designated in 1975. Dr. Broadwater has managed the sanctuary for more than a decade, focusing the site's efforts to prevent further deterioration of the wreck, recover important ship components and artifacts, and protect the wreck from damage by human activities such as vessel anchoring and fishing. In 1997, under Dr. Broadwater's guidance, the sanctuary proposed an ambitious plan to stabilize the wreck and raise significant portions of the Monitor, including the propeller, rudder, engine, and turret for preservation. Dr. Broadwater helped secure the funding and logistical support from Congress, the Navy, and the Mariners' Museum, along with several other partners for one of the most ambitious underwater archaeology restoration and recovery projects ever undertaken. Dr. Broadwater's work has helped to heighten awareness in the United States for protecting maritime cultural resources. His work played an instrumental role in designating the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve in Michigan. Dr. Broadwater's expertise is also recognized worldwide and has led to his involvement in representing the United States on other international maritime archaeological expeditions.