Resource Management Accomplishments

10th U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting

PSC staff, including those from NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) and Office of Response and Restoration, attended and participated in the 10th U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting held in Guam and Saipan. The meeting included presentations to the Task Force Regional Subcommittee regarding local action strategies developed by each of the U.S. Flag Pacific Islands.

American Samoa Economic Valuation Study of Coral Reefs and Nearshore Coastal Resources

PSC's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) staff worked with the American Samoa Coastal Management Program to commission the first-ever local economic valuation study of coral reefs and nearshore coastal resources for the territory. PSC supported a contract for an economist to travel to American Samoa for one week to meet with local coral reef and coastal managers to design a study to investigate priority local management questions. A request for proposals was advertised and a contractor was selected. The study is expected to be completed by summer of 2004. Funds also were provided to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to develop a local economic valuation study. A similar process of developing the scope of the work and initiating the study will begin in January of 2004.

Cultural and Traditional Practices Panel at the Coastal Zone 03 Conference

PSC organized a panel discussion on the use of cultural and traditional practices in relation to resource management. The panel, convened at the Coastal Zone 03 conference in July of 2003, featured experts from the Pacific Islands and elsewhere.

Economic Valuation of Hazards Workshop

The PSC coastal hazards specialist helped to organize and facilitate a workshop on economic valuation of hazards at the Coastal and Ocean Program Managers' Meeting in Washington, D.C., in March 2003. The workshop provided coastal managers with case studies and examples of how economic evaluation can be used to understand the impacts of both natural and human-induced coastal hazards to improve hazards planning and response. Part of the workshop involved a roundtable discussion in which state program managers shared their knowledge about capabilities and resources that exist within state programs, as well as identified needs for economic valuation tools and resources.

Economics of Marine Protected Areas

PSC's OCRM staff coordinated and chaired a Program Managers' Meeting session on the economics of marine protected areas (MPAs). The session featured speakers from the World Bank, NOAA's Special Projects Office, the University of Miami, and NOAA's International Program Office, presenting on MPA economics topics ranging from site selection to monitoring and enforcement.

Geospatial Training

PSC staff coordinated and conducted various trainings throughout the Pacific Islands to build further capacity in spatial technologies used in coastal management. PSC conducted two Geographic Information Systems for Coastal Management classes in Honolulu in April, with over 28 participants from State of Hawai`i agencies. Through a Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) grant, PSC also coordinated metadata and Global Positioning System (GPS) training in Hawai`i, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in summer 2003. Over 75 participants were trained in the concepts and application of GPS and metadata. Finally, PSC coordinated remote sensing training in American Samoa and Hawai`i in August 2003. The training demonstrated the benefits and limitations of remote sensing, how remote sensing is used in a GIS environment, and how it is used in coastal resource management.

Guam and American Samoa National Marine Managed Area Inventory

The NOAA Marine Protected Areas Center is conducting a national Marine Managed Area (MMA) inventory. PSC's OCRM coral reef staff assisted with this effort by gathering the information for all territorial sites in Guam and American Samoa. This information will undergo review by managers and be housed on a public Web site at www.mpa.gov. A coral reef managed area summary report will also be created using this inventory and additional information collected. The report will examine the management status of individual managed areas and identify challenges and solutions using a qualitative comparison of different management approaches. Preliminary findings for this report, including those for Guam and American Samoa, were presented by OCRM at the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting in early October 2003.

Hawai`i Ocean Resource Management Plan

PSC supported the Hawai`i Coastal Zone Management Program to further develop the state's Ocean Resource Management Plan. This collaboration was primarily focused on supporting the implementation of the Summit-to-Sea Conference, which will focus on implementation tools and strategies necessary to develop an effective ocean resources management program, as well as on mutual statewide ocean and coastal issues. The conference has been tentatively scheduled for fall 2004.

Hawai`i Spatial Data Implementation Plan

The State of Hawai`i was involved in a federal effort, supported by the FGDC, to document the geospatial data needs of Hawai`i. PSC staff organized a workshop of local marine GIS professionals to discuss relevant data issues for Hawaii and incorporate those topics into the marine data layers chapter of the Hawai`i Geographic Information Coordinating Council (HIGICC) I-Plan. PSC staff also authored the plan's geodetic control chapter. The final version of the I-Plan was submitted to HIGICC members in May 2003 and can be viewed on-line at the HIGICC Web site.

Information Sharing at the All Islands Meeting

PSC staff participated in the All Islands Coastal Zone Management Meeting held in June 2004 on Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in the following capacities:

• PSC's Coastal Hazard Specialist led a session titled "Improving Technical Capacity: Data and Information" to establish coastal zone management priorities and needs for the development of a Sustained Pacific Region Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), and to discuss end user needs and data management requirements;
• PSC's Director served on the panel "NOAA Partner Update: The Shift to Regional Responsiveness" to share views of efforts to support regional responsiveness;
• All PSC staff actively particated in working group sessions and discussions throughout the meeting.
  

National Park Service Coral Reef Mapping Presentation

As part of an effort to conduct geologic inventories of all parks in the Pacific, the National Park Service (NPS) sought information about NOAA's benthic habitat mapping initiatives. PSC presented benthic mapping work of NOAA researchers to an NPS working group in March 2003. The presentation also covered other NOAA activities and data collection updates in the Pacific, including geodetic control, nautical charts, and environmental sensitivity index maps.

Pacific Islands Assistantship

In order to enhance organizational capacity within the coastal resources management organizations in the Pacific Islands, PSC supported the development of the Pacific Islands Assistantship in Hawai`i, Guam, American Samoa, and the CNMI. The first assistants, placed from 2001 to 2003, had geospatial expertise and assisted in data management, integration, and skill development. The second round of assistants, placed in January 2004, will continue to focus on issues established by the host organizations, including land use planning, permitting databases, spatial data development, and community management tools.

Pacific Islands Training Coordination

This ongoing project provides professional and educational development opportunities for U.S. Flag Pacific Island coastal managers in process skills, content, and technical areas. PSC cooperates via an interagency agreement with the Graduate School, U.S. Department of Agriculture, to provide regionally appropriate training. Recent trainings include grantsmanship in the CNMI (June 2003), supervisory skills in American Samoa (February and June 2003), and, in cooperation with the National Marine Sanctuaries Program, volunteer program development in American Samoa and Hawai`i (April 2003).

Pacific Spatial Activities Database

As part of an ongoing project, PSC compiled a database of NOAA National Ocean Service mapping activities and contacts in the Pacific Islands. Activities of additional partners may be added in the future. This information will be hosted on the PSC Web site to serve as a resource to the islands. Currently, the database is in draft form; the Internet map server and Web site will be developed in 2004.

Wai`anae Ecological Characterization

As part of an ongoing project, PSC has engaged in a partnership with the NOAA Coastal Services Center and the Hawai`i Coastal Zone Management Program to develop an ecological characterization of the Wai`anae region of the Island of O`ahu in Hawai`i. The characterization is a tool for the Wai`anae community to build partnerships with local, state, and federal organizations to develop local land use and watershed management strategies.