The America's Watershed Initiative Report Card project began with a regional workshop for the Upper Mississippi River Sub-Basin, held in Moline, Illinois on September 11–12, 2013. At the workshop, stakeholders and experts from social, economic, and environmental sectors identified easily understood and transparent ways to measure status and trends for the Upper Mississippi River Sub-Basin in relation to six broad goals.

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The World Bank-funded Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project serves to assist the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, in building national capacity for implementation of a comprehensive coastal management approach, and piloting the integrated coastal zone management approach in states of Gujarat, Odisha, and West Bengal, all with long coastlines and unique biodiversity conditions.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2012, the methods for the report card have changed to include five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2012, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 47%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Fisheries indicators as well as trajectories of reporting region health are also presented. For further details, visit the Report Card website .

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This document provides guidelines for the successful production of non-tidal stream health report cards. Specifically, this document develops clear and consistent protocols for the identification, collection, and analysis of indicators to be used by report card-producing organizations in Mid-Atlantic rivers and streams.

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Restoring and expanding coastal and estuarine habitat leads to increases in fish populations, which have a positive impact on the communities and the industries that depend on thriving and sustainable fisheries. This report makes a powerful case that investing in our nation’s coastlines and estuaries leads to healthy habitat and strong fisheries, which has a positive impact on the businesses and industries, both recreational and commercial, that need healthy fisheries to survive and thrive.

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Following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, seven Oil Spill Commission Action (OSCA) commissioners released their first report in April 2012— Assessing Progress: Implementing the Recommendations of the National Oil Spill Commission . It provided recommendations for making offshore energy production safer, improving oil spill response, and addressing the impacts on people, economy and the environment.

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The participatory engagement of stakeholders is perhaps the most important component of the planning and development of an MPA. Meaningful engagement depends on the ability of practitioners to build a healthy, lasting, and trustful relationship with stakeholders, including local communities. The approaches described in this guidebook are intended to help practitioners navigate this process of stakeholder engagement.

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Old Woman Creek, on the south-central shore of Lake Erie, is one of Ohio’s few remaining examples of a natural estuary and is designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve and a Ohio State Nature Preserve. It is the only Great Lakes freshwater estuary in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and is managed cooperatively by NOAA and the ODNR.

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Pipe Creek is a small tributary to Sandusky Bay on the south-central shore of Lake Erie. The Pipe Creek watershed is largely developed by a combination of urban and agricultural land uses. Pipe Creek is best known for its 97 acre State Wildlife Area located at the mouth of Pipe Creek, which was constructed in the early 1990s as a mitigation site for wetlands destroyed by development elsewhere.

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The natural geomorphological processes on Assateague Island, a Mid-Atlantic barrier island, are being exacerbated by increased storm intensity and sea-level rise, impacting the habitats and wildlife. The National Park Service Assateague Island National Seashore management is taking steps to ensure the sustainability of the park and the visitor experience.

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