50 years ago, Congress passed the Coastal Zone Management Act to “preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the nation’s coastal zone." Today, 34 coastal States and Territories partner with NOAA to manage our nation's coasts.

Throughout 2022 we will highlight accomplishments from the State, Territory, and National CZM Programs over the past 50 years and look forward to how the CZMA will continue to shape the future of our nation's coasts.

Join us in celebrating 50 years of the CZMA!

Check out NOAA's 50 Years of Ocean and Coastal Conservation website.

Follow along on CSO's Celebrating 50 Years of the Coastal Zone Management Act website.

Follow the CZMA 50th Anniversary on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with #OceanAndCoasts50 and #CoastalManagement

CSO has partnered with the Association of State Floodplain Managers Flood Science Center on a two-year National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) National Coastal Resilience Fund grant to provide technical assistance around scenario-based planning to coastal communities in the Great Lakes region. The Strengthening Coastal Communities Resilience in the Great Lakes Region (SCCR-GLR) program will engage coastal shoreline communities to assess their vulnerabilities to projected environmental stressors related to flooding. This project aims to empower coastal communities with a better understanding of coastal resilience issue; and build a community of practice of local, state, and regional stakeholders for regional coastal resilience projects. Teams will leave the SCCR-GLR program with a completed vulnerability self-assessment, a set of planning scenarios, an action plan, improved hard and soft skills around coastal resilience, and access to a regional community of practice. Partners for this program include CSO, ASFPM, the American Planning Association, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network via Wisconsin Sea Grant. In addition, this project will include a refresh of the Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Planning Guide – which was recently relaunched on a new web platform at the same URL, www.greatlakesresilience.org.

 

CSO is proud to announce that it, along with ASFPM, has been selected to co-host a NOAA Digital Coast Fellow focused supporting local communities in planning for and managing residential coastal properties acquired or vacated due to erosion, inundation, and flooding worsened by climate change. The 2022-2024 NOAA Digital Coast Fellow will start their project in late summer 2022. The 2022-2024 fellow’s project will explore community readiness to manage planned and unplanned retreat from flood-exposed coastal properties. There is a gap in guidance available today for neighborhood-scale planning and management solutions for acquired or vacated properties. This multidisciplinary project aims to fill this gap by developing a comprehensive resource and technical guidance to help state and local coastal and floodplain planners, managers, and permitters plan for and manage the properties most directly affected by sea level rise, lake level change, flooding, and erosion.

The U.S. Army announced the Civil Works studies, projects and programs that the Corps would implement in Fiscal Year 2022 with the $22.81 billion in supplemental funding provided in two recently enacted laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. The spend plan supports the Administration hitting the ground running by focusing on current Fiscal Year 2022 spending. Future announcements will provide spend plans for subsequent years. Learn more here.

NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) signed an interagency memorandum in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious offshore wind energy goals to advance wind energy responsibly while protecting biodiversity and promoting cooperative ocean use. Offshore wind energy development plays an important role in how the U.S. is leading the charge to combat the climate crisis, and build a clean energy economy and climate-ready nation. Learn more here.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding more than $20 million to support 25 projects in 13 coastal states to protect, restore or enhance more than 61,000 acres of coastal wetlands and adjacent upland habitats under the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. These projects will help mitigate the effects of climate change on coastal areas, many of which have already been dramatically altered and stressed by storms, sea level rise, human activity and invasive species. Learn more here.

NOAA has released its new and improved Coastal County Snapshots. This Digital Coast tool provides easy-to-understand charts and graphs that describe complex, county-specific coastal data. Communities use this information to ascertain community vulnerability and to plan accordingly. Topics covered currently include coastal flooding, the coastal economy, and the marine economy. A snapshot focused on sea level rise will be added in the next couple of months. Learn more here.

The Association of State Floodplain Managers is now accepting nominations for the individual and chapter 2022 ASFPM Awards. These annual awards serve to recognize the outstanding contributions made by individuals, agencies, and organizations to keep communities safe from flood loss, promote resiliency, and advance the association’s mission. Learn more and submit nominations here.

The Department of the Interior released the Fall 2021 NEWSWAVE and is accepting submissions for the next addition of NEWSWAVE. The Fall edition includes articles showcasing coastal resilience that includes news about key meetings, applied tools, and trainings. Submissions for the next additions are due February 9, 2022. Read the Fall 2021 NEWSWAVE and submit content here.

Are you interested in floodplain management? If so, check out the Association of State Floodplain Managers News and Views newsletter. The most recent newsletter can be read here.

The Department of the Interior, in coordination with the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce and the Council on Environmental Quality, has invited public comment regarding the development of the American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas, a new tool that will be used to track conservation and restoration of U.S. lands and waters. The Atlas is part of the America the Beautiful initiative to conserve, connect, and restore at least 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030. There are two public listening sessions on January 19, 2022 and January 21, 2022. Learn more here.

Any U.S. citizen who will complete a master’s or other advanced degree at an accredited U.S. university between August 1, 2020, and July 31, 2022, is eligible to apply for the Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowships. A variety of degrees are applicable to the fellowship because the projects are new and different each year. Previous fellows have had degrees in environmental studies, natural resource management, marine affairs, marine science, geology, public affairs, communications, social sciences, and regional land management. The most important prerequisite is an interest in coastal issues. Application packages must be submitted to the Sea Grant program office in the state where you earned your degree by January 21, 2022. Learn more about the Fellowships and how to apply here.

The Hollings Scholarship Program and the EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship Program are accepting applications until January 31, 2022. The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance (up to $9,500 per year) for two years of full-time study and a 10-week, full-time paid ($700/week) internship at a NOAA facility during the summer. The EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship provides funds for two years of undergraduate study to rising junior undergraduate students majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields that directly support NOAA's mission. Participants conduct research at a NOAA facility during two paid summer internships. Since 2001, 219 students have completed the program and over 75% go on to graduate school.

The 6th National Working Waterfront Conference will be held on July 19-21, 2022 at the waterfront campus of UMass Boston. The event provides a forum for stakeholders from across the U.S. and Canada to connect and showcase innovative, successful, and timely solutions to waterfront and waterway issues. Abstract and session proposals are due February, 25, 2022. Learn more and submit here.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), announces the 2021 Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund (ECRF) to support projects that increase the resilience of coastal communities impacted by hurricanes and wildfires in 2020 and 2021. The fund supports conservation projects that create and restore natural systems to help protect coastal communities from the impacts of coastal storms, floods, sea-level rise, inundation, coastal erosion, wildfires and associated landslides/debris flows, and enable communities to recover more quickly from these events, all while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species. The ECRF seeks to fund shovel-ready projects to improve wildlife habitat that also improves community resilience and recovery both in and around impacted areas. Proposals are due February 3, 2022. Learn more and apply here.