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Heidi Burkart

Publications and source records attributed to Heidi Burkart.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP): User guide for the Gulf Coast Monitoring and Assessment Portal

The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act Final Rule at 31 C.F.R. Part 34) was signed into law on July 6, 2012. The RESTORE Act calls for a regional approach to restoring the long-term health of the valuable natural ecosystem and economy of the Gulf Coast region. The RESTORE Act dedicates 80 percent of civil and administrative penalties paid under the Clean Water Act, after the date of enactment, by the responsible parties in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (Trust Fund) for ecosystem restoration, economic recovery, and tourism promotion in the Gulf Coast region. In addition to creating the Trust Fund, the RESTORE Act established the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council or Council). The Council includes the Governors of the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the Interior, and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Council plays a key role in developing strategies and implementing projects that help ensure the Gulf of Mexico’s natural resources are sustainable and available for future generations. The Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP) was approved as a Gulf-wide investment by the Council in the 2015 Initial Funded Priorities List and is administered jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Funded activities include the organization of basic, foundational components for a Gulf-wide monitoring network to measure the efficacy of investments in Gulf restoration by the Council. The program, in coordination with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) and through collaboration with the Gulf States, federal and local partners, academia, non-governmental organizations, and business and industry, has leveraged existing resources, capacities, and expertise and built on existing monitoring programs and their data.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,

Council monitoring and assessment program (CMAP) compilation of existing habitat and water quality monitoring and mapping assessments for the Gulf of Mexico Region

This report is a deliverable to the RESTORE Council for Task 7: Document the existing baseline habitat and water quality conditions prior to implementation of the restoration projects; these baseline conditions will serve as a basis for measuring change/progress after restoration. It is the second in a series of CMAP reports. The first report describes the process and development of the CMAP monitoring program inventory, herein the Inventory (NOAA and USGS, 2019). The goals and objectives for the Inventory were to identify and document existing habitat and water quality monitoring, and mapping programs, data, and protocols in the GoM. The Inventory built upon existing databases, such as the Ocean Conservancy (Love, 2015), Global Change Monitoring Portal (GCMP; GCMP, 2017), and Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) databases (GOMA, 2013), including habitat and water quality monitoring programs at national, regional, State and local scales. This second report identifies and catalogs existing water quality, habitat and mapping assessments within the Gulf of Mexico. This assessment catalog, herein the Catalog, was intended to supplement the Inventory to identify the best available science necessary for restoration, conservation or management activities. Both the Inventory and the Catalog databases will be accessible to the Council and the greater GoM restoration, monitoring, management, and academic communities through a searchable web-based tool.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,

Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP): Inventory of existing water quality and habitat monitoring, and mapping metadata for Gulf of Mexico Programs

Under the Council-Selected Restoration Component of the RESTORE Act, the Council develops Funded Priority Lists (FPLs) that describe the projects and programs it will fund. Projects and programs funded through this component must be in furtherance of the goals and objectives of the Council’s Comprehensive Plan and address at least one of the restoration criteria identified in the RESTORE Act. The Initial FPL, finalized in December of 2015, had a strong focus on watershed and estuary restoration and foundational cross-Gulf projects. Approved as a Gulf-wide investment in the 2015 Initial FPL, The Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP) is administered jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Funded activities include the development of basic, foundational components for Gulf-wide monitoring to measure beneficial impacts of investments in Gulf restoration by the Council. The program, in coordination with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) and through collaboration with the Gulf States, Federal and local partners, academia, non-governmental organizations, and business and industry, has leveraged existing resources, capacities, and expertise and build on existing monitoring data and programs.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,