New Partnership for Restoration in Southeast Coastal New England Margherita Pryor from Westerly, Rhode Island to Chatham, Massachusetts, Wildlife Service, U.S
New Partnership for Restoration in Southeast Coastal New England Margherita Pryor From Westerly, Rhode Island to Chatham, Massachusetts, Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Natural Resources the coastal watersheds of southeastern New England occupy Conservation Service, and the Small Business Administra- a distinct ecological and management niche between Long tion. The Agency should also include stakeholders from local Island Sound and the Gulf of Maine. With its layers of 400 governments and agencies, non-governmental organizations, years of development—from farming and fishing to indus- and academic institutions. The conferees also recommend trialization to suburban office parks—this area presents that the Agency, through this regional effort, facilitate the environmental challenges that are unique, but also represen- development of strategies to restore and protect the southern tative of the country at large. In addition to its splendid sense New England Estuaries. of place and nature, history has also left it with the cumula- In response, EPA Region 1 has been working with inter- tive impacts of centuries of ecological insults. Toxic residues, ested partners in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, channeled and impounded rivers, and highly altered natural including federal, state, and local agencies, the Narragansett systems are legacies now compounded by excess nutrients Bay and Buzzards Bay NEPs, and non-governmental organi- and increasing vulnerability to climate change. zations such as the Cape Cod Commission, to think through In facing these daunting challenges, Southeastern New an effective partnership framework. Consistent with Congres- England is fortunate to be home to multiple federal, state, and sional direction, the goal of this partnership places particular local agencies—along with dozens of universities, research emphasis on addressing key habitat and water quality priori- institutions, watershed groups, land trusts, and other non- ties, especially the nexus between them in key activities so governmental organizations.
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