Imagine boating to paradise and then—without meaning to—causing it harm. Thanks to more than a decade of work in the Virgin Islands, a national park visit by boat is now gentler on the marine environment.

The spectacular coastal scenery, crystal clear waters, reliable winds, and beautiful bays of Virgin Islands National Park and the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument have made them popular destinations for boaters. In the past, these visitors had to use anchors to secure their vessels, causing considerable, albeit unintentional, damage to sea grass beds, coral reefs, and other  benthic (seabed or seafloor) resources. To combat this problem, the park embarked on a mooring program to provide a safe and reliable alternative to anchoring with the long-term goal of creating an anchorless park.

Moorings are permanent installations that allow boats to stay in one place without using anchors. In our case we drive heavy-duty augur-like devices about 15 feet into the seabed and then connect a line to a buoy on the surface (see a diagram of how this works). Boats attach to the buoy and are secure. Anchors are a more temporary solution, disturbing the seabed every time they are dropped and then retrieved. Just imagine the damage that could be done by 50 boats dropping anchors and then pulling them up day after day.

Park leadership and the Friends of Virgin Islands National Park finally achieved our long-held goal of an anchorless park in February 2013. Since the beginning of the program, the Friends group has installed 340 moorings and invested more than $663,000 in this program.

Starting back in 1999, the Friends installed 180 moorings for overnight use in ten bays around St. John. These white mooring balls along the north and south shores of St. John have played a significant role in protecting coral reefs, allowing the recovery of sea grass and protecting other benthic resources. The sea grass beds had been seriously depleted due to anchoring, but now if you snorkel in the mooring fields you will see a rich carpet of sea grass–much to the delight (and survival) of the myriad of marine creatures that make the sea grass their home.

In 2004, the Friends embarked on a program to install moorings in the recently designated Coral Reef National Monument. As a marine protected area, anchoring was prohibited within the monument. But, while we supported the conservation policies of the monument, we felt that the prohibition on anchoring precluded many of the traditional uses of the monument’s waters.  Installing moorings was the perfect answer and a “win-win” for both the users and the environment: allowing users to continue to enjoy this unique marine environment while providing needed protection to the natural resources. In this case, the Friends installed two dive moorings at popular dive sites in the monument, six moorings for blue runner fishing, and 125 storm-mooring berths and 11 day-use moorings in Hurricane Hole, a traditional refuge here for vessels during tropical storms. These moorings were installed in four phases between 2004 and 2008.

All of the moorings mentioned above were for boats up to a maximum of 60 feet in length. Vessels larger than that still had to anchor. Earlier this year, we installed 14 moorings for boats between 60 and 100 feet in six bays, finally making the park anchorless.

The protection of the park’s marine resources was obviously the principal objective of the mooring installations. However, the moorings also have a significant impact on the visiting boaters’ experience by providing a safe and convenient means of securing their boats while enjoying Virgin Islands National Park and the Coral Reef National Monument.

Many of us remember the images from the tragic Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that left 11 people dead. The disaster opened a gushing wellhead that emptied 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the ocean off the coast of Louisiana. I worked as a teacher in Louisiana as these events unfolded, and for me, what happened eight days later was as poignant as the news on that first terrible night because it happened in my classroom.

On April 28, 2010, the world watched as clean-up crews set the Gulf of Mexico’s waters ablaze—the latest attempt to control the vast oil slick. The disaster became the topic for discussion among my 7th grade students in Jefferson Parish, less than 100 miles from the smoldering oil rig. The local news had just reported that oil would be washing ashore within hours.

My students were scared. They sought assurance and answers. They wanted to know why it was happening. The BP oil spill was more than an ecological disaster happening offshore; the impacts were real and they were quickly hitting home.

One student heard from his father, a commercial fisherman, that “all of the oysters and fish were going to die and there was going to be no more seafood.”

As students pictured the oil washing ashore and destroying beaches, many feared that their parents would lose their jobs in the tourism-based economy that the Gulf Coast relied upon. They talked about the places they had visited and loved—Jean Lafitte down the road, the beaches of Alabama and Gulf Islands. “Will we be able to go this summer?”

They turned to me and asked, “How did they let this happen?”

Being an English teacher, this would have been a great opportunity for me to invoke the lessons of The Lorax and provide a literary analogy. But I just told them to hold on to how they felt in that moment and not forget it.

This was just the beginning of a nightmare that went on to last 87 days. Over 210 million gallons of oil later, gulf ecosystems have been permanently changed. As we mark the three-year anniversary, the restoration continues. We still do not know the long-term consequences of the BP oil spill and how it will affect the landscape and aquatic life for years to come. A recent National Wildlife Federation report states the remnants of oil and dispersants continue to plague dolphins, sea turtles, and coral, which are dying at an abnormally high rate.

Three years later, more oil rigs are drilling in the Gulf of Mexico than before the BP oil spill. In the past year, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has issued 112 new drilling permits for wells deeper than 500 feet—more than each of the two years prior to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Have we forgotten the lesson from three years ago? I at least hope that my students have not.

BP and other responsible parties are currently on trial in a federal court in Louisiana to determine the extent of their negligence. Learn how financial penalties from the proceedings could help fund projects to strengthen Gulf waters and national parks in our recent story, “Three Years Later: Gulf Coast Still Recovering from BP Oil Spill.”

This Saturday, April 20, marks the third anniversary of the oil rig explosion that devastated coastal communities, waters, and lands in the Gulf of Mexico and imposed tragic loss among 11 families.

Nearly three years ago, I flew over the Gulf of Mexico in a small plane, to see firsthand the devastating impacts the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill was inflicting on our national parks and the local communities, especially Gulf Islands National Seashore. I met with many workers and toured the National Park Service’s Oil Spill Command Center to discuss clean-up efforts, staff capacity, and the challenges they faced trying to protect park resources and wildlife.

As I walked along the beach of Gulf Islands National Seashore, the wind and rain from Tropical Storm Bonnie was strong. The brown-stained sea foam rolled in and out, leaving behind a thin sheen of oil on the beach. Though officials advised against it, I reached down to pick up some of the brown sand and felt the oil between my fingertips. I was not prepared for the stinging sensation on my fingers—a slight and persistent chemical sting. It was heartbreaking to imagine the oil spreading over the Gulf Islands’ beaches, into its wetlands, and onto its wildlife. The work ahead for the National Park Service was daunting, especially for the more than 600 staff from 120 national parks deployed to assist in the Gulf Coast cleanup efforts, in addition to thousands of others from federal agencies, national and local organizations, and nearby communities.

Recognizing that one of the worst environmental disasters to hit the Gulf Coast in U.S. history could bring about an unprecedented opportunity for recovery and restoration, Congress passed the Resources and Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourism, Opportunities Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (also referred to as the RESTORE Act) last year. This bipartisan legislation ensures that 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalty payments stemming from the BP oil spill would be directed toward environmental restoration and economic development in the Gulf region, including national parks like Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, and Padre Island National Seashore, where the health of the Gulf is directly linked to the health of the parks.

Today, BP and other responsible parties are on trial in a federal court in Louisiana to determine the extent of their negligence and the financial penalties that will be leveed. In the meantime, there are many projects that could make a tremendous impact on the Gulf through the RESTORE Act.

The entire Gulf is one large ecosystem. Improving the health of places like Florida Bay, the Mississippi Delta, and Galveston Bay will support vibrant fisheries, wildlife habitat, and livelihoods that depend on a healthy Gulf. NPCA supports a variety of restoration projects with a goal of improving the overall health of the Gulf to allow it to be more resilient to future disasters.

At Gulf Islands National Seashore, one potential project would remove asphalt and road-base debris from areas that were once pristine sugar-white sand, but have been damaged by years of storm events. At Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve, a proposed project would restore wetlands damaged by old oil exploration and drilling canals, levees, and platforms in the Barrataria Preserve portion of the park. At Everglades National Park, another proposed project would bridge spans of a major access road known as the Tamiami Trail, allowing water to flow back into the park and out to Florida Bay, a highly productive Gulf estuary that has experienced a decline in fisheries and wading birds due to the lack of fresh water.

With five of America’s Great Waters and eight national parks located in the Gulf Coast region, we must not forget how these cherished places suffered, either by direct impacts from the oil or indirect effects such as lost revenues from spring and summer tourism seasons. These communities have been waiting for funds to begin critical shovel-ready environmental restoration projects that will rebuild the Gulf Coast, making it stronger and more resilient.

We must not forget how we felt when we heard the news three years ago and watched damage spread day after day. The communities, businesses and national parks in the Gulf Coast still need help to recover from it. The federal government must hold the responsible parties accountable and use the financial penalties to jumpstart these restoration projects that, once funded, will help to restore and rebuild the Gulf Coast to make it stronger than ever.

When Sandy crashed ashore just a few months ago, it ravaged the cities, towns, and shorelines of New York and New Jersey and caused unprecedented damage to the region’s national parks. At the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Gateway National Recreation Area buildings were flooded and essential infrastructure destroyed. Electrical, plumbing, and sewer systems were wrecked, while docks, foundations, floors, and walls in many facilities were displaced or destroyed. At larger parks such as Fire Island National Seashore and Gateway, the beaches suffered severe erosion and summer’s sands were swept away. Extensive areas of inland landscapes were horrifically damaged as well.  

Sometimes though, such tragedies have a silver lining. In Sandy’s wake, NPCA’s supporters have helped achieve a triumph for the parks by voicing support for the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, known as the Sandy Supplemental Bill. NPCA worked hard on the bill’s passage. Targeting 170 potential congressional supporters, NPCA staff across the country called each member’s staff to discuss the bill. More than 19,400 NPCA members and supporters told these legislators why it is so important to rebuild the regions devastated by Sandy and to protect communities from future storm damage. Northeast regional staff worked with various agencies to understand the bill’s goals and potential impacts, and NPCA helped influence the content of the legislation as well, promoting interagency cooperation and environmental justice for projects in the New York and New Jersey Harbor.

With the passage of the Sandy Supplemental, billions of dollars will now start flowing to the region for relief and rebuilding. The bill included $398 million for the National Park Service to rebuild parks and historic treasures, $360 million for the Department of Interior to rebuild coastal habitat and infrastructure in national parks and wildlife refuges, and hundreds of millions more for the Army Corps of Engineers to help with flood reduction and coastal restoration projects around Gateway and Fire Island.

It is tragic that the region had to endure a natural disaster, widespread suffering, and costly rebuilding efforts to receive this level of congressional priority, but this bill is wonderful news for the region. It is our hope that restoration work in Sandy’s wake will embrace the vision of a lively urban waterfront, open and accessible to the people, that is economically sustainable as well as environmentally resilient. Sandy funds will now ensure:

• More than $348 million in direct support for national park operations in the region. Already overburdened and struggling with recent cuts, these funds will allow the National Park Service (NPS) to take a fiscally responsible, forward-looking approach to rebuilding in the region. Without these funds, much of the restoration work (such as re-opening the Statue of Liberty) would have come at the expense of national park sites and projects across the nation.
• Billions of dollars for the Army Corps to rebuild open spaces on both sides of the Hudson River and protect urban areas from future flooding, while also providing increased waterfront access to millions and refurbishing the harbor’s ecological fabric. For the past three years, NPCA has co-chaired the Harbor Coalition, a consortium of regional advocacy organizations brought together and supported by the J.M. Kaplan and the Rockefellers Brothers Fund. The coalition has sought to bring federal, state, and local agencies together to better align their New York and New Jersey waterfront restoration plans and significantly increase the financial support for green urban waterfront projects.   
• Help for Gateway to reach its full potential. After advocating for years to re-envision Gateway as an iconic urban national park, we now have the opportunity to actually do it. Simply put, Superstorm Sandy flattened and flooded Gateway, but the supplemental funding allocates several hundred million dollars to repair and rebuild the park.
• Improvement to Fire Island’s beaches. NPCA has sought to achieve a mutual agreement between area residents and NPS on a beach improvement plan as well as additional sensitive issues such as zoning, off-road vehicles, and the management of invasive species. With flood protection now a priority, the Army Corps, NPS, and New York State have dramatically sped up their efforts to improve Fire Island’s beaches, creating a huge opportunity to address the other issues as well.   

Thanks to voices like yours, the Sandy Supplemental far outpaced our expectations in drawing attention to some crucial issues and providing funds to the national parks in the region. Now we have even more work cut out for us to ensure the newly appropriated funds are strategically spent, cost-effectively applied, and focused on key projects that will help elevate New York and New Jersey parks to an iconic status.   

Learn more about the Sandy Supplemental and NPCA’s Northeast Regional Office.

The nonprofit organizing the effort, Wounded Nature – Working Veterans, based in Charleston, South Carolina, is recruiting veterans and volunteers from across the country to join them from Wednesday, March 20 through Friday, March 22. The group will remove storm debris from the Jamaica Bay area from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, then give volunteers the rest of the afternoon and evening off to enjoy the local attractions in the New York City area.

Want to help? You don’t need to be a veteran to join.

“We welcome any and all non-veterans who have a love for nature and the environment to join us in this vital restoration work,” said the group’s CEO, Rudy Socha. ”If someone cannot make it to assist on this project, they can support us by donating to help cover our ongoing expenses.”

 Learn more on the organization’s website, woundednature.org.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Each month, NPCA puts together a slideshow exploring one of the 398 amazing places in our National Park System. To get the featured park delivered to your inbox each month, sign up for Park Lines, NPCA’s newsletter, at www.npca.org/join.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Earlier this month, more than 100 million acres of public land in Alaska shared one common anniversary: On December 2, Lake Clark, Kenai Fjords, and other parks and preserves established through the Alaskan National Interest Land Conservation Act, or ANILCA, turned 32 years old. This federal legislation created ten different national parks and expanded three others in America’s largest, wildest state, including:

• Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument
• Denali National Park
• Gates Of The Arctic National Park and Preserve
• Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
• Katmai National Park and Preserve
• Kenai Fjords National Park
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
• Noatak National Preserve
• Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve
• Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve

Although ANILCA was controversial when it passed–protesters burned President Carter in effigy and some residents engaged in acts of civil disobedience–this law is now recognized as one of the most significant land conservation measures in America’s history and an enormous contributor to Alaska’s tourist economy.

Here are just a few images of the vast natural wonders protected by ANILCA. Put on an extra sweater and enjoy!

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Americans are captivated by wilderness; it comes in all shapes and sizes, from the forested Olympic National Park to the river of grass in the Everglades. Thanks to U.S. Secretary Ken Salazar, Americans can now experience the majestic beauty of the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast: Drakes Estero, in Point Reyes National Seashore.

The decision to protect Drakes Bay as wilderness was nearly 40 years in the making. In 1976, Congress passed a law that included designating the estuary within Point Reyes National Seashore as the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast. However, this ruling came with one caveat–a commercial oyster company using motorboats and raising non-native oysters could continue operating, but its permit would expire on November 30, 2012. Once the commercial operation ended, nature would take over, and the estuary would return to its natural state. After all, taxpayers purchased this property with the goal to have it be fully protected and accessible as part of this national park.

A promise made should be a promise kept, right? Unfortunately, when the ownership of the oyster company changed hands in 2005, the new operator chose not to honor the contract, and instead fought to stay.

Secretary Salazar’s decision to protect this five bay estuary demonstrated his deep understanding and commitment to protecting America’s greatest wilderness areas. Over the last several years, NPCA has worked tirelessly with the secretary, the Park Service, Congress, and President Obama to protect not only this area but other pristine wilderness areas across the country, including the Rocky Mountains, Zion, Joshua Tree, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, as intended by their designation as national parks sites.

As our members and supporters know, NPCA is not one to back down from a fight–especially when something as rare and precious as marine wilderness is at stake. Our work began once we learned of the oyster company’s efforts to seek a lease extension. Over the years, we have conducted extensive legal and policy research on this issue; rallied local and national supporters; educated elected officials; and participated in scientific study processes to protect the long-standing plan to attain a fully-protected wilderness at Drakes Estero. Our work demonstrates that advocacy is consistently needed if we want our national parks to be unimpaired for future generations.

We value wilderness areas in national parks for the clean air and water, scenery, and wildlife they provide. And wilderness is not found everywhere. If anything, wilderness can be likened to an endangered species in the continental United States–and marine wilderness is even less common. What was once acre upon acre of vast open lands, especially in the West, is becoming developed at an alarming pace. When President Obama announced his America’s Great Outdoors initiative, he talked about this very issue: “Over the last century, our population grew from about 90 million to 300 million people, and as it did, we lost more and more of our natural landscape to development. Meanwhile, a host of other factors–from a changing climate to new sources of pollution–have put a growing strain on our wildlife and our waters and our lands.”

We agree, wholeheartedly.

Secretary Salazar’s decision to provide full wilderness designation to Drakes Bay–as planned and paid for by the American public–will enhance opportunities for public access to a remarkable protected marine environment near the major urban hub of San Francisco and the nine Bay Area counties, home to more than 9 million people. Far more than just a beautiful view, Drakes Estero serves as a stopover for thousands of sensitive and migratory birds and a habitat for seals. It also accounts for at least 7 percent of California’s eelgrass habitat, which helps maintain a healthy marine ecosystem. Without the bustle of business and a noticeable commercial footprint in the middle of Drakes Estero, all who visit Point Reyes National Seashore can enjoy enhanced opportunities for recreation, wildlife viewing, and the much-revered quality of solitude. Such an experience simply cannot be replicated.

Our work to protect Drakes Estero is not over. On December 4, the oyster company filed a lawsuit to fight Secretary Salazar’s landmark decision. Meanwhile, Salazar’s opponents have criticized him sharply in the media, pointing out that 30 oyster farmers are now out of a job. We firmly believe that the national parks belong to everyone and should not support commercial enterprises that benefit a chosen few—something Congress recognized 40 years ago when it chose to let the company’s permit expire. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to safeguard the secretary’s decision and protect the future of the West Coast’s first marine wilderness area, and we will keep you apprised of our efforts and how you can help. We also ask you to join us in thanking Secretary Salazar for his monumental decision, which will be long felt by our generation, our children, grandchildren, and all who explore this wonderful, natural gem.

Learn more

Listen to NPCA’s Pacific Region Associate Director Neal Desai in a forum with Kevin Lunny, the owner of the Drakes Bay Oyster Farm, on a recent KQED radio program:

Also, see a slideshow with images from Drakes Estero, including the oyster farm:

Many people think of scenic mountain vistas, sprawling canyons, thundering waterfalls, and towering timber when they think about the spectacular natural features protected by our National Park System. But 85 national park units also harbor spectacular scenery along and under the surface of wide-open oceans and Great Lakes.

Park staff manages the coral reefs, kelp forests, glaciers, estuaries, beaches, wetlands, historic forts, and shipwrecks in these 85 units with the assistance of the National Park Service’s Ocean and Coastal Resources Branch in the Water Resources Division. NPCA’s Great Waters Program works on the organization’s regional efforts to protect critical bodies of water and other resources in a number of these parks around the country. NPCA was also instrumental in the establishment of Fort Monroe National Monument, the system’s newest coastal addition (November 2011), and continues to work to protect additional shoreline in the Chesapeake Bay area.

-Dr. Gail Dethloff, Director, Center for Park Research

*Source: Shoreline Length and Water Area in the Ocean, Coastal and Great Lakes Parks, March 2011 (PDF, 2.5 MB)

But threats to the health of the Great Lakes and to the 13 national parks in the watershed abound. The National Park Service battles invasive species, falling water levels, eroding shorelines, and contaminated tributary lakes and rivers, while using ever-shrinking budgets to combat these threats. A few years ago, however, an important federal funding source was established to restore the Great Lakes and improve water quality to the more than 30 million Americans that depend on the lakes for their drinking water–the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or GLRI.

The GLRI provides about $300 million each year to many projects in cities, rivers, and harbors around the lakes. It provides the National Park Service with critical annual funding to respond to ecosystem needs in eight of our Great Lakes parks, with more than $18 million of GLRI funding currently allocated to restoration projects. And we are seeing great results.

NPCA has put together a compelling list of successful GLRI-funded projects at our Great Lakes national parks. A Sound Investment: Restoring the Great Lakes in our National Parks provides a look at six projects currently underway. Check out the Park Service’s award-winning film series, Little Things, Big Problems, funded by GLRI dollars. The films discuss the dangers of invasive species like zebra mussels and the Round Goby, how they’re impacting our Great Lakes, and how the public can help stem the spread of these invaders.

A great example of GLRI funding in action is the “Reconnecting Waterways” project at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which has created jobs for land surveyors, hydrologists, and soil scientists and has engaged hundreds of volunteers, including a group of college students helping out with assistance from NPCA. So far, nearly 55 acres of wetlands have been restored and native water birds such as coots, kingfishers, and green herons have returned to the national lakeshore after being gone from the park for more than 100 years.

At a time when the Park Service budget faces additional cuts, which can lead to smaller workforces and less ability to protect the water and wildlife in our Great Lakes national parks, the GLRI has provided much-needed jobs for the Park Service and local communities. If we cut funding for the GLRI now, it will only be more costly in the long run. Tell your elected officials to support the GLRI because it protects our national parks. Let’s tell the presidential candidates how important our Great Lakes national parks are.

-Lynn McClure, Director of NPCA’s Midwest Regional Office

Learn More

Watch this seven-minute video by the National Park Service on the importance of removing invasives at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore–one of the projects funded by GLRI.