2003
NEWS ARCHIVE
Coastal
Roots Program Wins 2nd Place Gulf Guardian Award
July 29, 2003
STENNIS SPACE
CENTER, Miss. – The Gulf of Mexico Program recently announced
that Coastal Roots: School Seedling Nursery Program for Wetland
Restoration, will receive a second place Gulf Guardian Award for
2003 in the Youth and Education Category. The award will be presented
to representatives of the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program
based at Louisiana State University during the Southern States
Environmental Conference and Exhibition scheduled Sept. 23-25,
in Biloxi.
Four years
ago the Gulf of Mexico Program developed the Gulf Guardian awards
as a method of recognizing and honoring the businesses, community
groups, individuals, and agencies that are taking positive steps
to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive. The Gulf of
Mexico Program began in 1988 to protect, restore, and maintain
the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem in
economically sustainable ways. Award entries were received from
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. First, second,
and third place awards are given each year in six categories –
individual, business, youth and education, nonprofit organizations,
government, and partnership efforts.
“Our
oceans and coasts are precious resources,” said Jimmy Palmer,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator in
Atlanta. “Coastal and marine waters provide some of the
most diverse and biologically productive habitats on the planet,”
he added. “This year’s Gulf Guardian Award winners
are doing their part to keep these valuable resources healthy
and productive.”
Coastal Roots
is a coastal restoration and nursery program jointly managed by
the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program. It was created in 2001
by Dr. Pam Blanchard with LSU’s Department of Curriculum
and Instruction, Dr. Ed Bush with LSU’s Department of Horticulture,
and David Bourgeois, a Sea Grant Extension Agent with the LSU
Agricultural Center. Coastal Roots helps restore critical Gulf
of Mexico coastal habitats, helps students develop a sense of
stewardship towards wetlands restoration, and informs the public
of coastal restoration needs. The program currently includes 15
schools in 11 south Louisiana parishes.
“I’m
very proud of the students, teachers, and organizations that have
come together to make Coastal Roots work,” said Blanchard.
“They all have a sincere interest in protecting and restoring
our fragile coastal environments. No matter the heat, the mud,
or the mosquitoes, our Coastal Roots students and teachers put
themselves on the line to help restore a small part of what has
been lost.
Bush added,
“What’s outstanding about Coastal Roots is that it
integrates classroom instruction about coastal land loss issues
and basic horticulture concepts with field experience.”
“Students are growing trees that will have a positive impact
on rehabilitating a disturbed coastal habitat. They can see the
direct connection between what they learn in the classroom and
what’s happening on our coast.”
Gulf of Mexico
Program Office Acting Director Bryon O. Griffith said, “Our
2003 Gulf Guardian Award winners are to be commended for taking
action to preserve and restore the Gulf of Mexico.” “One
out of every six jobs in the United States is marine-related,
generating $54 billion in goods and services annually. Protecting
these waters makes sense economically, aesthetically, and environmentally.
Acting as one community to protect our one and only Gulf of Mexico
is essential to our way of life and our standard of living.”
For a list
of all the Gulf Guardian Award winners for 2003, visit the Gulf
of Mexico Program web site at http://www.epa.gov/gmpo
and click on the Gulf Guardian Award button on the left.
The Gulf of
Mexico Program is underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and is a non-regulatory, inclusive consortium of state
and federal government agencies and representatives of the business
and agricultural community, fishing industry, scientists, environmentalists,
and community leaders from all five Gulf States. The Gulf Program
seeks to improve the environmental health of the Gulf in concert
with economic development.
Editor’s
Note: For more information about the Gulf Guardian Awards and
the Gulf of Mexico Program, call Terry Hines Smith at 228-688-1159.
For more information about the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program
and the Coastal Roots Program, call Marilyn Barrett-O’Leary
at 225-578-6349.
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