The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was one of the worst man-made environmental disasters our country has ever experienced. The oil spill dramatically affected the lives, jobs, and futures of millions of Gulf Coast residents. The Gulf of Mexico is a natural resource of vital importance which provides immeasurable benefits and services to citizens throughout the United States. The Gulf is also critical to nation-wide commerce. This book examines the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Strategy and Long Term Recovery Plan with a focus on facilitating long-term vitality through restoring and conserving habitat, restoring water quality, replenishing and protecting living coastal and marine resources, and on making the Gulf of Mexico a healthier and more resilient place for the communities that depend on its wealth of resources.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was one of the worst man-made environmental disasters our country has ever experienced. The oil spill dramatically affected the lives, jobs, and futures of millions of Gulf Coast residents. The Gulf of Mexico is a natural resource of vital importance which provides immeasurable benefits and services to citizens throughout the United States. The Gulf is also critical to nation-wide commerce. This book examines the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Strategy and Long Term Recovery Plan with a focus on facilitating long-term vitality through restoring and conserving habitat, restoring water quality, replenishing and protecting living coastal and marine resources, and on making the Gulf of Mexico a healthier and more resilient place for the communities that depend on its wealth of resources.

"Many of the Gulf's challenges are complex and long-standing, and correcting the problems will require sustained and consistent effort over time. The Task Force's Strategy was developed through a review of existing plans and efforts and significant public outreach during the last year. The Strategy builds on ongoing work and priorities of each of the Gulf Coast states, local communities, federal partners, academics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The restoration framework consists of four overarching goals to guide the collective actions at the local, state and federal level that are necessary to reverse the ongoing decline and restore the Gulf Coast's ecosystem. The Task Force's goals for the Gulf Coast restoration effort are the following: 1. Restore and conserve habitat 2. Restore water quality 3. Replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources 4. Enhance community resilience The Strategy includes enhanced community resilience as a goal in order to highlight the connectedness of ecosystem restoration with the well-being and sustainability of coastal communities. This goal also emphasizes the planning and technical assistance needs of vulnerable coastal communities as they assess risks, plan for and rebound from natural disasters, and implement sustainable development approaches. As progress is made to improve water quality and protect and enhance the Gulf of Mexico's habitats and resources, communities benefit from improved ecosystem services, such as better storm protection and healthier fisheries. A key function of the Task Force is to help advance state and federal activities that will achieve the overarching restoration goals. The Task Force intends to help member agencies address process and other barriers, facilitate program implementation and alignment, and better leverage scientific expertise and fiscal resources in support of Gulf Coast restoration. In addition to encouraging better collaboration among state and federal agencies, partnerships play an integral role in restoring ecosystem functions throughout the Gulf region. The Task Force believes it is critically important to foster an inclusive dialogue and expand on public/private partnerships in order to achieve ecosystem restoration in the Gulf of Mexico ..."--Executive summary p. 6.

Valued for its ecological richness and economic value, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is under substantial pressure from human activities. The Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill significantly damaged Gulf ecosystems and led to the largest ecological restoration investment in history. The unprecedented number and diversity of restoration activities provide valuable information for future restoration efforts, but assessment efforts are hampered by many factors, including the need to evaluate the interaction of multiple stressors and consider long-term environmental trends such as sea level rise, increasing hurricane intensity, and rising water temperatures. This report offers a comprehensive approach to assess restoration activities beyond the project scale in the face of a changing environment. A main component of this approach is using different types of scientific evidence to develop "multiple lines of evidence" to evaluate restoration efforts at regional scales and beyond, especially for projects that may be mutually reinforcing (synergistic) or in conflict (antagonistic). Because Gulf of Mexico ecosystems cross political boundaries, increased coordination and collaboration is needed, especially to develop standardized data collection, analysis, synthesis, and reporting. With these improvements, program-level adaptive management approaches can be used more effectively to assess restoration strategies against the backdrop of long-term environmental trends.

"This report will focus on these three central requirements for recovery in the Gulf Coast: the environment; the economy; and health and human services. These three areas are inextricably linked - what happens to the ecosystem of the Gulf affects its economy and the welfare of all Gulf Coast residents. As the Gulf ecosystem is rebuilt, economic activity will rise, jobs will be created, and the region's health will improve. The report will also discuss the role of nongovernmental organizations and community service in addressing each of the three issue areas"--Page 3.