U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy - Joint Ocean Commission Initiative

National Park SystemThe National Park System, administered by theNational Park Service, includes a number of nationalparks in coastal or ocean areas, including in Florida,Alaska, Maine, Michigan, California, U.S. VirginIslands, and American Samoa. Other ocean andcoastal elements of the system include nationalseashores (ten national seashores on the Atlantic,Gulf and Pacific coasts), national lakeshores (four, allon the Great Lakes), and a number of national monuments(landmarks, structures, and other items of historicor scientific interest situated on federal lands).Web: .National Sea Grant College ProgramThe National Sea Grant College Program’s ocean,coastal, and Great Lakes research, education, technologytransfer, and outreach activities are implementedby a network of programs at thirty universitiesand scientific institutions around the nation. Theprogram was modeled on the research and extensionactivities of the nation’s land grant universities.NOAA administers the program.Web: .See Section 3 (Federal Laws): National Sea GrantCollege Act.National Status and Trends ProgramThe objective of NOAA’s National Status and TrendsProgram is to evaluate and detect changes in theenvironmental quality of the nation’s estuarine andcoastal waters. The program conducts monitoring ofcontaminants and other environmental conditions atapproximately 350 sites nationwide.Web: .National Streamflow Information ProgramUSGS operates the National Streamflow InformationProgram, a network of about 7,000 stream gagesnationwide. (About 6,000 of these stations aretelemetered by an Earth-satellite-based communicationssystem.) The majority of the stream-gaging stationsare jointly funded in partnerships with morethan 800 state, local, and tribal governments or otherfederal agencies.Web: .National Water Quality AssessmentUSGS operates the National Water Quality Assessment,which uses a regional focus to study status and trendsin water, sediment, and biota in forty-two major riverbasins and aquifer systems. This effort has made considerableprogress toward assessing current waterquality conditions and long-term trends.Web: .National Wildlife Refuge SystemThe National Wildlife Refuge System, administeredby the USFWS, encompasses over 95 million acreson more than 540 refuges and waterfowl productionareas dedicated to the protection and conservation ofthe nation’s wildlife resources. In 1966, legislation(Pub. L. 89–669; 16 U.S.C. § 668dd) codified thesystem, which was first established by executiveorder of President Theodore Roosevelt as a networkof wildlife refuges and ranges, areas for the protectionand conservation of fish and wildlife threatenedwith extinction, game ranges, wildlife managementareas, and waterfowl production areas.Web: .National Stream QualityAccounting NetworkUSGS conducts long-term water quality and quantitymonitoring through the National Stream QualityAccounting Network at fixed locations on largerivers around the country. Currently, this programfocuses on monitoring the water quality of the nation’slargest rivers—the Mississippi, Columbia, Colorado,Rio Grande, and Yukon. Consequently, most coastalregions are left out of the monitoring network.Web: .APPENDIX D: GLOSSARY OF FEDERAL OCEAN AND COASTAL-RELATED COMMISSIONS, COMMITTEES, COUNCILS, LAWS, AND PROGRAMSD 19