Ocean and Coastal Highlights

Secretary Haaland welcomed the White House 2023 Conservation. Summit to the Main Interior Building in Washington, DC in March 2023 where key actions, including an Ocean Climate Action Plan, were announced. The Summit was a gathering of advocates, organizers, non-profit organizations, and partners working on important projects that are restoring our coasts, reinvigorating our coral reefs, and protecting our ocean for future generations.

In May 2023, DOI announced $12 million in key investments from the Inflation Reduction Act for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation and resilience for the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Funding will increase coastal resilience across the U.S. territories through new infrastructure that will mitigate flooding, prevent erosion, improve stormwater drainage, and build stronger and more sustainable communities.

The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) been highly successful in reducing development intensity on coastal barriers, and it has also saved taxpayers billions of dollars. A study published in the Journal of Coastal Research estimated that the law reduced coastal disaster expenditures by an estimated $9.5 billion between 1989 and 2013, and predicts that it could save as much as $108 billion by the year 2068 (in 2016 dollars).

To address the threats of future or further spreading, a group of fisheries managers and biologist armed by science and biology, known as the Lake Erie Committee, developed an Adaptive Response Plan to identify the most effective ways to remove these destructive, non-native fish.

In March, DOI announced over $353 million in fiscal year 2022 energy revenues to be distributed to the four offshore Gulf oil and gas producing states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to support coastal conservation and restoration projects, hurricane protection programs, onshore infrastructure projects, and activities to implement marine and coastal resilience management plans.

Introducing this new NEWSWAVE feature, Secretary Haaland shares highlights of the work DOI is doing to bolster our Blue Portfolio.