Happy Pride!
LGBTQ+ Ocean Career Panel Webinar
NOAA Marine Sanctuaries hosted the Pride in the Ocean Career Panel as part of the Pride in the Ocean Campaign which is an annual celebration of Ocean Month and LGBT Pride Month. Their goal is to raise the visibility of LGBTQ+ ocean scientists, athletes, appreciators, and more. Our ocean is for everyone, no matter who you love, and we want to know how you take pride in this blue planet. Watch the webinar recording here.
APA Webinar on LGBTQ+ Inclusion and Representation in Planning
The webinar was co-hosted by APA Florida’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and APA’s LGBTQ and Planning Division. Planning strives to identify, assess, and address the needs of all members of communities. The profession recognizes residents' shared commonalities, while also acknowledging certain needs and challenges that may be specific to certain groups. Absent visibility, inclusion, and representation, the voices of LGBTQ+ residents, communities, and planners may not be heard. This webinar will discuss best practices to achieve inclusion and representation. Watch the recording here.
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NOAA OCM Launches Federal Consistency Learning Module
The Office for Coastal Management has released a new learning module in the CZMA 101 series: Federal Consistency Basics. This module provides an introduction to the Coastal Zone Management Act federal consistency provision. It is designed to help the user build a basic understanding of core federal consistency concepts and what happens in the workflow of implementing federal consistency. The new module includes: definitions, examples, and considerations for core concepts, flowcharts for subpart C: Consistency for Federal Agency Activities (subparts D and E coming in the fall), and links to guidance and quick references.
NOAA Launches Self-Guided Risk Communication Training
The new self-guided training, Preparing for Effective Risk Communication, provides the steps to develop a risk communication strategy focused on, and designed to meet the needs of, a specific audience. The training includes information on how to listen more effectively, share information appropriately, and build relationships for improved conversations about hazards. Tips are also provided for those moments when you are put on the spot with a difficult question.
USACE Developing Coastal Engineering Index
The Corps' Engineer Research and Development Center is developing the Coastal Engineering Resilience Index (CERI). CERI computes using a custom GIS toolbox that uses lidar data from the USACE National Coastal Mapping Program to extract parameters that describe the beach and dune system — measurements like the dune’s height and the beach’s slope and width. Using the data from USACE and NOAA models to extract wave and storm surge information, CERI then computes the index along the beach to estimate maximum shoreline recession and beach overtopping for specified storm events. The index has been computed for pilot sites located on the northern Gulf of Mexico and North Carolina’s Outer Banks, as well as the USACE New York District’s area of responsibility in New Jersey and on Long Island. There are plans to compute CERI for most of the remaining U.S. sandy shorelines later this year. Read more here.
NOAA Announces $2.6 Billion in IRA Funding
The U.S. Department of Commerce unveiled a $2.6 billion framework to invest in coastal resilience through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). As part of the President’s Investing in America Agenda this initiative will support communities and people on the frontlines of climate change, dedicating nearly $400 million specifically for Tribal priorities and benefiting coastal and Great Lakes communities nationwide with an emphasis on environmental justice. Additional investments from the IRA will improve weather and climate data and services, support the Biden-Harris Administration’s America the Beautiful conservation initiative and strengthen NOAA’s fleet of research airplanes and ships that are used to study and collect data about the ocean and atmosphere. Read more here.
Justice40 Accelerator Applications Open for Community-Based Organizations
The Justice40 Accelerator will support community-based and community-led groups/organizations working at the frontlines of environmental crises and advancing community-driven climate solutions. Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, fiscally sponsored projects, and cooperatives based in the U.S., including sovereign lands located within the U.S. and its territories, are eligible to apply. An informational webinar will be held on Thursday, June 15, 2023. The application closes on Monday July 31, 2023. Learn more here.
President Biden Proclaims June 2023 National Ocean Month
"The ocean makes life on Earth possible -- feeding us, sustaining livelihoods, and connecting economies across the globe. It bonds us as a source of recreation and rejuvenation for our spirits and links us to our heritage through Indigenous communities who have stewarded our marine habitats since time immemorial. Through its rich ecosystems of diverse plants, animals, and other species, it is also central to our fight against the climate crisis and to creating a cleaner, safer, and healthier future. During National Ocean Month, we recommit to protecting and conserving our precious ocean and to harnessing its power to shape a more sustainable planet." Read the rest here.
Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission Releases Waterfront Toolkit
The Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission has launched the Waterfront Planning Toolkit, a Wisconsin Coastal Management Program funded project designed to provide assistance and resources to communities interested in planning for the unique obstacles and opportunities that come with development on the waterfront. It strives to articulate the value of waterfront plans and help communities shape the long-term resilience and sustainability of their waterfronts by establishing a set of tools and best practices to promote successful planning efforts.
NWF Launches Student Memo Competition
National Wildlife Federation is excited to offer awards that recognize undergraduate or graduate students over the age of 18 who develop innovative recommendations for state and local policies that can help improve water quality and/or the resilience of communities to flooding through nature-based approaches. Nature-based solutions include conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, such as healthy wetlands, floodplains, and forests, as well as employing engineered systems designed to mimic natural system functions. The area of geographic interest is the Mississippi River mainstem states including overlapping Tribal and Indigenous lands and waters (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana). Submit entries by Friday, June 30, 2023 to knuffmanl@nwf.org. Read more here and here.
DOI Releases Summer Issue of NEWSWAVE
The Summer 2023 edition of NEWSWAVE demonstrates the many ways the Department of the Interior (DOI) is working to to fulfill their ocean stewardship commitments, through advancing renewable offshore energy, restoring coastal wetlands, investing in nature-based solutions and conducting the science to understand and guide management decisions in the face of climate change. Secretary Haaland’s NEWSWAVE 5 highlights a broad range of examples that show how DOI bring their collective missions together to support our blue portfolio, such as hosting the White House 2023 Conservation Summit at the Main Interior Building, where key actions, including the first ever Ocean Climate Action Plan, were announced.
EPA Announces New Funding for Underserved Communities
EPA announced the availability of $30 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for restoration projects that advance environmental justice in underserved and overburdened communities across the Great Lakes. EPA has published a request for applications for the newly created Great Lakes Environmental Justice Grant Program that will fund implementation of environmental protection and restoration projects that will further the goals of GLRI in communities with environmental justice concerns. EPA will host a webinar on the request on Tuesday May 23, 2023. Applications are being accepted through Friday August 11, 2023.
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