Coral Reef Task Force
Interior co-leads the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force with NOAA that includes 10 other Federal agencies, states, Territories, Commonwealths and three Freely Associated States working together to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems.
Visit: http://www.coralreef.gov/
Interior plans and supports biannual meetings that bring Task Force members together.
Interior bureaus play important roles in coral reef conservation.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages 15 coral reef National Wildlife Refuges and 4 National Marine Monuments which represent the largest and most ecologically comprehensive series of fully-protected marine areas under unified conservation management in the world.
- The Bureau of Ocean Management has sponsored long-term monitoring in the coral reef ecosystem of the Flower Garden Banks located in the Gulf of Mexico.
- The National Park Service has 10 National Parks in the Pacific, Florida and the Caribbean with coral reef ecosystems.
- The Office of Insular Affairs, through its Coral Reef Initiative, funds coral reef conservation and management projects in the US insular areas.
- The U.S. Geological Survey developed “Strategic Science for Coral Ecosystems 2007-2011,” a comprehensive planning document for marine reserves and reef structure, pollution and local impacts, and responses to global change. http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1364/