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Estuaries and Wetlands Management Information
Updated: July 13, 2004
Federal
 Army
Corps of Engineers Wetlands Research and Technology Center
The
WRTC consolidates administrative, technological, and
research skills available at the U.S. Army Engineer Research
and Development Center, Environmental Laboratory. The
Center facilitates and coordinates wetlands scientific
and engineering work, wetlands training, and interagency
coordination efforts and responds to those seeking answers
to wetlands related questions.
 National
Estuarine Research Reserve System
The
National Estuarine Research Reserve System was created
by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 as part of
the federal coastal zone management (CZM) program. The
CZM program ensures the sustainable management of the
nation's coasts. The National Estuarine Research Reserve
System is a partnership between coastal states and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
that conducts research and education programs in order
to promote better understanding of estuaries and how
they are impacted by human activities. NOAA administers
the Reserve System. Besides information on its programs,
their website includes a system map, case studies, educational
materials, and publications.
 National Estuary
Program
Established
by Congress in 1987, the National Estuary Program helps
local communities manage their estuaries. Federal, state,
and local government representatives work with local
community representatives to protect and to identify
and solve problems with their estuary. There are currently
twenty-eight estuary programs across the country. The
NEP website, which is in English and Spanish, contains
background information on estuaries, the NEP, including
the original legislation that created the program, management
issues, which estuaries are in the NEP, National Estuaries
Day, contact information for each of the twenty-eight
programs, bibliographies of documents published or commissioned
by the NEP, and NEP's newsletter, "Coastlines."
 National
Wetlands Inventory
The
National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service produces information on the characteristics,
extent, and status of the Nation's wetlands and deepwater
habitats. This information is used by Federal, State,
and local agencies, academic institutions, U.S. Congress,
and the private sector. Digitized wetlands data can be
integrated with other layers of the NSDI such as natural
resources and cultural and physical features, leading
to production of selected color and customized maps of
the information from wetland maps, and the transfer of
digital (computer-readable) data to users and researchers
world-wide.
Dozens of organizations, including Federal, State, county
agencies, and private sector organizations such as Ducks
Unlimited, have supported conversion of wetland maps
into digital data for computer use. Statewide databases
have been built for 9 States and initiated in 5 other
States. Digitized wetland data are also available for
portions of 37 other States.
 USGS
National Wetlands Research Center
The
National Wetlands Research Center is a source and clearinghouse
of science information about wetlands in the United States
and the world for fellow agencies, private entities,
academia, and the public at large. Staff members obtain
and provide this information by performing original scientific
research and developing research results into literature
and technological tools. They then disseminate that information
through a variety of means. On a National level, the
Center provides information on wetland habitats through
a system of peer reviewed journal articles, data bases,
synthesis reports, workshops, conferences, technical
assistance, training, and information/library services.
Often the information or databases reside at other organizations,
including other USGS field offices and research centers.
On a Regional basis, the Center solves wetland-related
problems and conducts status and trends inventories of
wetland habitats, evaluates wetland problems, and conducts
field and laboratory research on wetland issues. Center
research includes a broad array of projects on wetland
ecology, values, management, restoration and creation,
plus research on the ecology of a wide variety of plant
and animal species and communities that are found in
wetlands.
- National
Estuaries Restoration Inventory
The
National Estuaries Restoration Inventory (NERI) tracks progress made
toward the goals of the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000. The Act
is implemented by an interagency Council consisting of representatives
from the Environmental Protection Agency, Fish & Wildlife Service,
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Natural Resource
Conservation Service, and the U.S. Army who jointly developed a strategy
calling for the restoration of one million acres of estuary habitat
by 2010. NOAA developed NERI as an on-line tool to monitor Estuary
Restoration Act projects and other estuary restoration projects implemented
around the country. NERI serves as a restoration information clearinghouse,
providing details on techniques and monitoring results. Projects
can be submitted to the inventory from Federal, State, local, and
private sources provided the project goal is to restore ecosystem
benefits to estuaries and associated habitats. Project managers can
use the inventory to produce on-demand reports, find new partnership
opportunities, and locate regional restoration efforts that may assist
in future restoration planning and design.
State
Other
- Acadia
Centre for Estuarine Research
Established in September 1985 by the Secretary of the
State of Canada, the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research's
mission is to research the estuaries and nearshore coastal
waters of Eastern Canada, with emphasis on the Bay of
Fundy and the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. The Acadia
Centre for Estuarine Research, located at Acadia University,
is a separate research unit within the Faculty of Pure
and Applied Science. The centre's projects are often
multidisciplinary, involving individuals from other academic
units or institutions, both university and government.
Their website includes information on their research
programs, staff, and publications.
- Estuary-Net
Estuary-Net was created by the National Estuarine Research
Reserve System to solve non-point source pollution problems
in estuaries and their watersheds. Estuary-Net encourages
partnerships between high schools, community volunteers,
local officials, state Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
programs and the National Estuarine Research Reserve
System. Besides information on estuaries and estuarine
ecology, their website has information on water quality
monitoring, data management, and quality assurance procedures.
The website also has educational materials and National
Estuarine Research Reserve System monitoring data sets.
- San Francisco
Estuary Institute
The San Francisco Estuary Institute is dedicated to
its mission of protecting and improving the San Francisco
estuary through research, monitoring, and communication.
The San Francisco estuary is made up of the San Francisco
Bay and Delta. SFEI has a number of programs designed
to help them in this mission. The Regional Monitoring
Program for Trace Substances (RMP) monitors contaminants
in the San Francisco Estuary. The San Francisco Estuary
is especially susceptible to contaminants from runoffs,
wastewater, and dredging activities.
Another of the other programs featured on the website
is the Bay Area EcoAtlas, a Geographic Information System
(GIS), which consists of a set of layered digital maps
and related images and information. The Bay Area EcoAtlas
is an excellent source of paper maps and digital files.
While their website focuses on their programs and projects,
it also includes some documents and reports created by
the different programs. A search engine and site index
is also in the works.
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