Surfrider staff, myself and several representatives from other leading ocean environmental groups, met with White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Director Christina Goldfuss and National Oceans Council (NOC) Director Beth Kerttula on March 26 in Washington, D.C.
A major topic of conversation was the continued implementation of the National Ocean Policy (NOP), an executive order signed by President Obama in 2010 calling for healthier ocean ecosystems and more resilient coastal communities. The NOC recently released the document, Report on the Implementation of the National Ocean Policy, tracking the various NOP activities taken by federal and state agencies since 2010.
Surfrider applauds the great work done by the National Ocean Council to strengthen and preserve our coastal and ocean ecosystems, communities, and jobs. By continuing to press for increased coordination, communication, and use of scientific data, the NOC is steering the country towards smarter and better management of our precious coastal and ocean resources.
Our staff around the country have been working to increase public involvement in nascent Regional Planning Bodies (RPB), one of the key recommendations from the NOP. With the goals of increasing coordination of management and protection of ocean ecosystems, the RPBs act as roundtables for state and federal agencies with management authority over coastal and ocean resources.
Not only have we been working to increase involvement in RPB processes by coastal recreational users like surfers and beach goers, we have also collected economic and geographic data on these uses. See studies and results from our efforts in Washington, Oregon, the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic HERE.