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USGS Assists in Training U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Technical Staff on Geologic Processes in Coastal Ecosystems
Explosive growth in human population and development in the Nation's coastal zone over the past 50 years has resulted in degradation of the natural environment and loss of important ecosystems. Efforts at all levels of government are being made to reduce future environmental impacts and risks of hazards to coastal populations. In addition, large-scale, multi-billion dollar mitigation and restoration efforts are underway and being planned for several regions: Everglades/South Florida, Chesapeake Bay, Boston Harbor/Massachusetts Bay, San Francisco Bay, and South Louisiana. Because geologic framework and sedimentary processes are the foundations for all ecosystems, the USGS has been providing scientific data and information that is critical to all restoration efforts. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is to manage and protect the Nation's fish and wildlife trust resources in refuges. To assist in these efforts, the USFWS held a 3-day Coastal Ecosystems Technical Training Symposium for USFWS biologists in the southeast region in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on August 20th-22nd. The purpose was to provide researchers with current scientific information about the physical and biological elements of coastal ecosystems and the potential impacts of system-wide restoration activities. At the invitation of the USFWS organizers, Cynthia Bohn and Tracy Rice, and Rob Thieler (USGS/WH) and I gave presentations. Respective titles were "Using Beach Nourishment Projects to Study Coastal Processes and Evaluate Their Environmental Impact," and "Coastal Erosion and Land Loss Around the United States: Strategies to Manage and Protect Coastal Resources—Examples from Louisiana. Approximately 100 USFWS biologists including partners with the Corps of Engineers, NOAA, and so forth, participated in the training session. A complete record of the symposium, including papers from the talks, will be available on a CD-ROM from the USFWS later this year.
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in this issue:
MRIB to Host Digital Library of Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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