News & Awards

• SARP Celebrates A Career Benefiting Aquatics

  December 1st, 2011
  

  With a strong background in teaching and communications, and time spent on the water as the editor of Work Boat Magazine, Marilyn Barrett-O’Leary was a fitting addition to Louisiana State University’s Sea Grant Communications Department back in the 1990s.  It was there that her expertise and experiences in the aquatic resources arena developed and grew.  Hired initially to start a magazine focused on Sea Grant activities, regional and marine issues, her skills and talents soon lent themselves to teaching ecological tourism to groups conducting swamp tours in Louisiana and developing programs focused on exotic invasive species.  At the height of the zebra mussel invasion in the Great Lakes, Sea Grant asked Marilyn to assist in the efforts to determine when zebra mussels might arrive in Louisiana.  Her research and analysis of the zebra mussel invasion in the southeast led to work with the Gulf of Mexico Program, where she helped to start a regional invasive species program (the Gulf of Mexico Regional ANS Panel), and later joined a similar program developed in the Mississippi River Basin.  Along the way, she helped Louisiana develop the first state ANS management plan in the region.  In recognition of this work, Marilyn was awarded one of the early Gulf Guardian Awards.  The Gulf of Mexico Program Partnership developed the Gulf Guardian awards as a way to recognize and honor the businesses, community groups, individuals, and agencies that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive.  During this time, her experience with exotic invasive species also extended to educating non-traditional audiences, such as garden retail stores like WalMart and Home Depot about the dangers of selling invasive species, and working with ports to do surveys of imports, waters and vessels that may be harboring and introducing invasive species. She also developed signage and educational programs on aquatic nuisance species (ANS) and studied biodiversity and its effects on aquatic species, habitats and the water, and human environment.read more >

• SARP Fosters Science and Connections at Fall Steering Committee Meeting

  November 1st, 2011
  

  Photo caption: Harpeth River in Fall, Franklin, TN. Photo credit: Lindsay Gardner. On Tuesday, October 25th, representatives from prominent government agencies, universities, non-profit organizations, and private industry (including SARP, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), EPA Gulf of Mexico Program, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Arkansas Game and Fish, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Geologic Survey, Oklahoma Game and Fish, Gulf Coast Plains and Ozarks LCC, Southeast Watershed Forum, South Atlantic LCC, Mississippi Dept. of Marine Resources, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Georgia Power, University of Georgia, Auburn University, South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources) gathered for SARP’s fall Steering Committee meeting. Other guests included John Frampton, National Fish Habitat Partnership Board member from the SARP region, and Gary Myers, former Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Director, and the visionary behind SARP. This meeting, held in association with the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ 65th annual workshop, SEAFWA 2011 at the Sheraton Music City in Nashville, TN, afforded an excellent opportunity for Steering Committee Members, Partners, and other interested parties to learn more about the current work that SARP and its partners are doing in the region. read more >

• Conservation Planning In Cherokee County, Georgia

  November 1st, 2011
  

  Photo caption: Participants engage in a Cherokee County habitat mapping exercise. Photo credit: SEWF. For the last 10 years, Cherokee County, surrounding communities and watershed advocates in the habitat-rich Upper Etowah River Basin, have been developing plans addressing the protection of greenspace, open space and prime habitat. While some of these plans have received more public support than others, they are making positive strides in conservation planning. In 2004, Cherokee County's planning effort secured support for the preservation of greenspace and parks through a $19 million Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), and in 2008 there was a bond issued for $39 million. On October 12th, 2011, working with the Southeast Watershed Forum (SEWF), the County and stakeholders participated in the “Conservation Planning in Cherokee County Workshop.” The workshop was supported by the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP) and funding through a Multi-state Conservation Grant project to implement the Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan (SAHP). Approximately 37 people attended, including staff from various county departments, five surrounding communities, the Upper Etowah River Alliance, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), community groups and land trusts, the Army Corps of Engineers, Atlanta Regional Council, and SARP. The workshop had three purposes; to strategically focus on which areas of the county were the most important to preserve and to make sure that the many diverse local stakeholders were in agreement on those priorities. Significantly, the workshop offered an opportunity to use strategic land conservation planning to better manage stormwater runoff and water quality issues currently facing the county. read more >

• Tennessee/ Cumberland/Ohio Aquatic Habitat Assessment Underway

  October 3rd, 2011
  

  This map is one in a series illustrating the condition of habitat at the river reach level. Map credit: Downstream Strategies. In May 2011, SARP entered into an agreement with the Ohio Basin Fish Habitat Partnership and Downstream Strategies, LLC to complete a fish habitat assessment for the Tennessee/Cumberland/Ohio River Basins. The goal of this project, which is being undertaken by SARP's Science & Data (S&D) Committee, is to use available fish and landscape data to predict where the best habitat and fish populations are and to provide data for use by SARP partners. This data can then be used by SARP and others to develop prioritization tools for restoration efforts and to implement measures to protect fish habitat at a regional scale. read more >

• Restoring Habitat and Preserving Lifeways at the FISH Preserve

  October 3rd, 2011
  

  Photo caption: Volunteers from Bonefish Grill planting mangroves. Photo credit: FISH. There is an inextricable link between the maritime heritage of Florida’s Gulf Coast and the diverse habitat and natural resources of its ecosystems. For the residents of the small, historic commercial fishing Village of Cortez on Sarasota Bay the linkage between place, community, occupations, and folkways, have for generations centered on the water that flows around and through the peninsula upon which this village was settled. This very strong, inseparable connection to the water, flora and fauna of the area and the stewardship of these resources is best illustrated through the conservation and restoration of the FISH preserve in Cortez (Manatee County, Florida). Comprised of a variety of critical habitats, including coastal hammock and uplands, high and low wetlands and tidal streams, shallow bays and estuaries, and inlets to the Gulf, this extensive, ongoing, and ambitious community-driven undertaking is making a positive difference in the lives of the local people and ecology. read more >

• Instream Flow Science and Resource Protection Advances in the Southeast

  September 1st, 2011
  

  Photo caption: Flow study on Town Fork Creek, North Carolina. Photo credit: Steve Reed, NC Division of Water Resources. The Southern Instream Flow Network (SIFN) is continuing to leverage the work it is doing with partners to refine resources for application in the South Atlantic states and throughout the SARP region. Following the Southern Instream Flow Research Agenda, SIFN is leading the development of a number of valuable tools, such as a literature survey of regional flow-ecology relationships, a stream classification for southern rivers based on hydrology, and a risk-assessment of flow alteration. SIFN is working closely with the South Atlantic LCC (SALCC) to develop a regional hydrologic model that will help assess flow alteration at a fine temporal and spatial scale under current and climate change scenarios. Opening lines of communication among the SARP states about instream flow issues continues to be a primary objective. SIFN’s collaboration with Virginia and North Carolina is particularly significant at this time, as both states are taking progressive approaches using hydrologic and biological information to inform policy and develop practices to best protect instream flows and aquatic resources. read more >

• Fish Habitat Benefits From More Than $3 Million in Funding

  September 1st, 2011
  

  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will provide more than $3.4 million to support 84 fish habitat projects in 38 states across the nation under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP). An additional $9.8 million in partner contributions, over $13.2 million in total, will go toward restoring and enhancing stream, lake and coastal habitat, as well as improving recreational fishing and helping endangered species. The funding is provided for priority projects identified through seventeen Fish Habitat Partnerships (FHPs) established under the NFHAP. The partnerships strategically direct funding and other resources to habitat improvement projects offering the highest long-term conservation returns for aquatic species. SARP is the largest FHP in the southeast and works with local partners to address regional habitat priorities and national conservation goals. read more >

• Preserving Life At Deadman’s Island

  August 1st, 2011
  

  Photo caption: The installation of the eco discs. Photo credit: Heather Reed. Located three miles off the Three Mile Bridge in Pensacola Bay, Florida is Deadman’s Island.  Once known as ship’s careening ground, U.S. quarantine station for yellow fever, fish fertilizer plant, glue factory and marine railway, this small, historically significant island is also an ecological gem.  Despite its tremendous cultural and biological value, the island’s shoreline is threatened by severe erosion.  In addition to the natural wave action and sand movement over time, extreme weather events like Hurricane Dennis, and activities such as bridge construction, dredging, and hard armoring of banks with rip rap and seawalls, have led to a deficit of sediment so that there is not enough sand transported to the peninsula to replenish the shoreline.  As a result, several neighboring ecosystems, including a 10,000 year old pristine salt marsh, a marine oak hammock, bird sanctuary, dune and wetland, and the wildlife that they harbor, as well as historic shipwrecks and a cemetery, are threatened.read more >

• Viewing the World Beneath The Water With Freshwaters Illustrated

  August 1st, 2011
  

  Photo caption: A male river chub builds its spawning nest by carrying individual stones, a behavior that cues other fish like the saffron shiner, to spawn (West Prong, Little Pigeon River, Tennessee Basin). Photo credit: Freshwaters Illustrated. There are few places where the adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings more true than in the conservation arena. Whether one’s mission is to protect, conserve and restore landscapes, special places, habitats, species, or all of the above, there is a persistent need for high quality, foolproof images in many aspects of our work. Most significantly, it is imperative that these images not only have an aesthetic appeal and convey the natural beauty of landscapes and living subjects, but effectively support our ability to raise awareness and a call to action that they are worthy of our time, attention and dollars to help preserve. In particular, for conservators of aquatic species, there is a need for “in situ” images of fish and other wildlife in their native habitats to open up a world of possibility in terms of creative messaging to our constituents and stakeholders and shed new light on the notion that you can’t save what you can’t see.read more >

• Dam Removal Demystified

  June 23rd, 2011
  

  Photo Caption: Lassiter Mill Dam on the Uwharrie River in NC, which is currently being studied for removal. Funding for engineering design for this project has been provided by the American Rivers-NOAA Community-based Restoration Partnership. Photo credit: Mark Cantrell, USFWS. American Rivers recently hosted a free, day-long workshop on dam removal in Chapel Hill, NC. The workshop was attended by 50 participants and attracted experts and presenters from around the nation. American Rivers opened with a discussion that addressed the reasons for removing outdated dams and goals for North and South Carolina. Other topics included the ecological results of dam removal, engineering techniques, sediment management, permitting and habitat management and design considerations. Dam removal project success stories in North Carolina were highlighted, including Lowell Mill (Little River), Carbonton (Deep River), Quaker Neck (Neuse River), Dillsboro (Tuckaseegee River), and Steeles Mill (Hitchcock Creek). read more >