Orlando, FL – In a presentation in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar presented a Partners in Conservation Award to the Flower Garden Banks (FGB) Long-Term Monitoring program for its long-standing commitment to the protection of the FGB reef community in the Gulf of Mexico. PBS&J—which has conducted the long-term monitoring of FGB for the U.S. Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 2002—was represented at the award ceremony by Donald R. Deis, CEP, PBS&J project manager for the ecological monitoring program. Deis has worked on the FGB since 1988, setting up the long-term monitoring program.
“The Partners in Conservation Awards demonstrate that our greatest conservation legacies often emerge when stakeholders, agencies, and citizens from a wide range of backgrounds come together to address shared challenges,” the Secretary said. “It is a testament to the continued dedication of the individuals at the NOAA, MMS and in the private sector and academic communities that the Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico are among the healthiest reefs not only in the Western Hemisphere, but in the world.”
The FGB Long-Term Monitoring program is one of the longest, continuous, coral reef monitoring programs in the world. Monitoring and restrictions on nearby oil and gas exploration since the early 1970s, first by MMS and later in partnership with NOAA, have ensured the health and resiliency of the reefs.
Located approximately 100 miles south of the Texas/Louisiana border and near the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, data sets collected by researchers from MMS and NOAA, along with environmental scientists from PBS&J, not only monitor the effects of oil and gas exploration but those of natural events such as hurricanes.
“These 26 awards recognize the dedicated efforts of thousands of people from all walks of life, from across our nation – and from across our borders with Canada and Mexico,” Salazar noted. “They celebrate partnerships that conserve and restore our nation’s treasured landscapes and watersheds, partnerships that engage Native American communities, and partnerships that engage youth.”
The full FGB team sharing the award includes Boston University Marine Program; Dauphin Island Sea Lab; Geo-Marine, Incorporated; MMS; NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, and PBS&J.