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.

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

Update, 1/16/13: Thanks to steady pressure from NPCA’s supporters, staff, allies, and many others, the House of Representatives passed the Sandy relief bill, including the Frelinghuysen amendment. This funding will provide shelter, power, and other basic necessities to struggling coastal communities, and will also support the recovery of our beloved national parks in the region. Read NPCA’s press release on this victory for more information.

Just before Halloween last October, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the Northeast, destroying communities and hurting families, homes, and businesses. Not only was the human toll devastating, but Sandy also caused unprecedented damage to national parks, sparking one of the costliest rebuilding efforts in U.S. history.

National parks that sustained extensive damage include the Statue of Liberty, where mechanical systems were flooded and destroyed; Sandy Hook in Gateway National Park, which was inundated with floodwaters and debris; and Fire Island National Seashore, which experienced severe erosion along its length. Ellis Island, Governor’s Island, Castle Clinton, Paterson Falls, and other sites in the region experienced flooding, significant damage to mechanical systems and employee facilities, and devastating landscape damage.

Last month, the Senate passed a bill that would have provided aid for people and places impacted by Hurricane Sandy; the bill included more than $400 million in desperately needed funds directly focused on rebuilding our national parks, and a similar amount in Army Corps construction funds to rebuild the beach and protective dunes at Fire Island National Seashore. Incredibly, however, the House failed to take up the bill before the 112th Congress adjourned, appropriately causing outrage among both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who represent the affected areas.

Congress and the federal government have traditionally responded rapidly to such disasters, such as the aid bill for Hurricane Katrina that passed overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis and was signed by the president within a week of the storm. Yet more than two months have passed since the disaster with no relief, and now the new Congress will be forced to start from scratch.

NPCA urges the new 113th Congress to immediately resume action on a storm relief funding bill to help struggling communities and national parks throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Provisions in the Senate-passed bill that need to be included in new legislation include:

• Critical disaster relief for the National Park Service’s construction budget to keep America’s national parks open for business.
• Aid for the Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund, to repair historic structures.
• Money for the Department of the Interior’s operations to assist local, state, and tribal governments in protecting and restoring habitat, water quality, and access to the New York Harbor. This provision would help parks across different jurisdictions replace damaged infrastructure in a more sustainable way that will reduce flooding and storm damage in the future.
• Authorization for an interagency task force to coordinate the rebuilding process in the New York/New Jersey Harbor.
• Funding to restore urban ecosystems that will protect waterfront communities and our national parks from future storms, similar to a process authorized after Hurricane Katrina. The process would support ecosystem restoration plans along the New York/New Jersey waterfront to help protect communities from future disasters. Healthy wetlands and natural buffer zones in coastal areas can absorb storm surges and lessen the damage from storms like Hurricane Sandy.
• Funding to expedite continuing authorities program (CAP) projects being undertaken by the Army Corps. This funding will increase the long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems, communities, and regional parks and reduce potential dangers associated with large-scale flood and storm events. For example, the New York District Army Corps is rebuilding tidal wetlands in Jamaica Bay, a park unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. In addition to providing important habitat for plant and animal species, Jamaica Bay’s tidal wetlands naturally decrease the velocity of flood waters, absorb them, and physically buffer their impact on nearly 5 million residents in Brooklyn and Queens alone. 
• Funding for the Army Corps to immediately start construction of the Fire Island to Montauk Reformulation project, an effort to rebuild the protective dunes of Fire Island National Seashore that protect millions of residents and commercial enterprises on Long Island’s south shore. 

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)

With more than 11,000 miles of coastline in the National Park System, it’s no wonder they’re so popular. These marine parks bring in some $3.5 billion a year to local economies (that’s the latest figure, from 2010). And while we often think about national parks as remote areas in the country’s vast interior, a number of beautiful beaches are an easy commute from urban areas. Gateway National Recreation Area, for example, is just a subway ride from New York City. Biscayne National Park is about a half-hour drive from Miami. And when outdoor lovers in San Francisco want a change of pace from the iconic Golden Gate National Recreation Area right in their back yard, they can head just 45 miles north to the stunning Point Reyes National Seashore, pictured above, in nearby Marin County.

Don’t forget, all 397 national parks are waiving their entrance fees for National Get Outdoors Day tomorrow! Check out some of NPCA’s favorite national park trips for other kinds of fun weekend ideas.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications