Dr. Brian Jordan
National Marine Protected Areas Center
NOAA National Ocean Service Introduction The Marine Protected Areas Executive Order (E.O. 13158) was signed in 2000 by President Clinton to "help protect the significant natural and cultural resources within the marine environment for the benefit of present and future generations by strengthening and expanding the Nation's system of marine protected areas." The executive order also created a Marine Protected Areas Center within the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) "to carry out, in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, the requirements of ... this order, and partner with governmental and nongovernmental entities to conduct necessary research, analysis, and exploration." This paper describes the Marine Protected Areas Center's role in developing a national system of marine protected areas (MPAs) and focuses on the proposed cultural heritage track of the system. Executive Order 13158: Marine Protected Areas What does E.O. 13158 do? While executive orders apply only to U.S. federal agencies, the voluntary participation by states and tribes is considered vital to the implementation of the order. The national system framework and the work of the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Center are intended to support, not interfere with, agencies' independent exercise of their own existing authorities. In carrying out its mission, the MPA Center works with existing programs at all levels of government and does not preclude new or revised programs. What does E.O. 13158 not do? Because there is often confusion about the purpose of establishing marine protected areas, clarification of the executive order's limitations is necessary. E.O. 13158 does not give the MPA Center the authority to designate any new sites, nor does it create any new federal authorities or change any state, local or tribal authorities. Furthermore, the MPA Center cannot restructure existing programs. Lastly, the executive order does not focus on 'no take' reserves. What Is A Marine Protected Area? A Marine Protected Area (MPA) is defined by E.O. 13158 as "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection to part or all of the natural or cultural resources therein". Familiar examples of MPAs in the U.S. include: national parks, wildlife refuges, monuments, and marine sanctuaries; fisheries closures, critical habitat, habitat areas of particular concern; and state parks, conservation areas, reserves and preserves. MPAs do not include areas where access is restricted for reasons other than conservation (e.g. security zones, shellfish closures, sewage discharge areas, pipeline and cable corridors), or unprotected areas that are logistically inaccessible due to weather, sea state, etc. Some of the many uses of marine protected areas include: maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem integrity; protecting endangered and threatened species, and sustaining and rebuilding fisheries stocks. MPAs are also important for protecting cultural resources and providing recreational, scientific and education opportunities.
The Marine Protected Area Center The MPA Center Headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland. To assist in the Center's mission, there are also two supporting institutes: the Science Institute in Monterey, California; and the Training and Technical Assistance Institute in Charleston, South Carolina. Currently, there are two regional coordinators located in the New England and West Coast regions. The staff at the MPA Center is working toward the creation of an effective, science-based, and collaborative national system of marine protected areas conserving marine ecosystems and cultural resources throughout the United States. The MPA Center's mission is to facilitate the effective use of science, technology, training, and information in the planning, management, and evaluation of the nation's system of marine protected areas. To realize this mission, the center focuses on three primary goals:
Marine protected areas have been used as conservation tools for many years. Currently there are hundreds of federal, state, territory and tribal MPA authorities with thousands of sites in U.S. waters. There are countless types of MPAs with different purposes that use different terminology. More importantly, there is a lack of ecologically-based connectivity among marine protected areas and a lack of comprehensive planning and coordination to identify and meet national and regional goals. A national system is a critical component of ecosystem-based management and can be used to integrate multiple conservation and management objectives within and among MPAs. The national system of marine protected areas can be viewed as an evolving portfolio of existing, enhanced, and new MPA sites and MPA networks as needed that:
Ongoing Efforts The creation of a national system of marine protected areas is a multi-phase process that relies on input from various stakeholders. The executive order established a Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee to seek the expert advice and recommendations of non-federal scientists, resource managers, and other interested persons and organizations. Input is also received from a State Advisory Group and a Federal Interagency MPA Working Group. In the coming year, the MPA Center will also hold a series of Regional Public Listening Sessions around the country. As the process for creating a national system of marine protected areas progresses, the MPA Center strives to gather and communicate information about marine protected areas and the system development process. This is accomplished through a variety of media: MPA.gov website (http://mpa.gov); MPA Online Regional Information Centers; MPA Connections Newsletter; MPA Education Program; "Understanding MPAs" Course; Federal Agency MPA Workshop; and East and West Coast State Workshops. Information and tools for sound MPA science is transmitted as: national and regional research priorities for social science; national and regional research priorities for natural science; and improved understanding of recovery in MPAs. The MPA Center foresees that the development process for the national system of marine protected areas will contain several phases:
Phase 1: Collect Baseline Information The primary vehicle for collecting baseline information on marine protected areas is the Marine Managed Areas (MMA) Inventory. NOAA, with the Department of the Interior, coastal states, and territories has been collecting information on MMAs: areas of the marine and Great Lakes environment that provide some degree of protection for natural and/or cultural resources. The resulting inventory is seen as the first step in designing an effective national system of MPAs. The broad MMA definition is intended to ensure that the range of place-based marine management in the United States is fully documented and understood, even if some of these areas do not ultimately meet the criteria that will be established to define and create the official list of U.S. MPAs. When the MMA inventory is complete, the MPA Center estimates that there will be between 1,500 and 2,000 MMA sites managed by federal, state, territory, and tribal agencies included in the inventory. To enhance analysis of the information in the MMA inventory, a classification system has been developed by the MPA Center. The classification system contains two principal categories: Primary Conservation Goal (i.e., natural resource, cultural resource, or sustainable production) and Level of Protection (e.g., no access, no impact, no take, zoned, or multiple use). Data may also be grouped by permanence of protection, scale of protection, and allowable extractive activities. Other types of information are also being collected that will aid the MPA Center as it begins to design services and products to support the national system of MPAs. Assessments are used to identify information, skills, tools, and processes needed to foster effective marine protected areas. An MPA Needs Assessment was completed in 2002, and other assessments, including MPA Enforcement and Legal Assessments, are currently being prepared. Other methods of organizing and understanding the complexities of existing marine managed areas focus on Lessons Learned and Social and Natural Science Strategies. Phase 2: Develop the Framework for the National System of MPAs The framework is the guiding document for defining, developing, and implementing the National System. The framework will include: Common terms of the MPA classification system; National System of MPA criteria (marine, protection, lasting, etc.); National System goals, components, planning process, and governance options; and Coordination processes for MPA agency, authority, and program participation. Guidance for the framework will be provided by the MPA Federal Advisory Committee; U.S. Departments of Commerce and the Interior; MPA programs, other agencies, authorities, users, and stakeholders; and International experiences. Submerged Cultural Resources and the MPA Center The cultural heritage marine protected area track is an important component of the national system of marine protected areas. The MPA Center employs a Maritime Archaeologist who coordinates the cultural resource data collection and activities of the Center, and who maintains pertinent contact information of personnel within the various agencies, states, and tribes that manage submerged cultural resources within MMAs/MPAs. One of the main focuses for this fiscal year will be the collection and verification of submerged cultural resource information for sites within the MMA inventory. The MPA Center is also focused on cultural heritage outreach and education. Recently, the MPA Center's director and Oregon's Ocean Program administrator hosted a cultural resource discussion panel entitled "Use of Marine Managed Areas in Historic Preservation" at the annual Coastal States Organization meeting in Traverse City Michigan. They discussed how, through area-based management, NOAA's MPA Center and the Preserve America initiative can work with state and local managers to enhance and foster maritime heritage tourism in partnership with local communities and the private sector. Presenters include John Halsey (Michigan's State Archaeologist and MPA Federal Advisory Committee member), John Swartz (Michigan Sea Grant), David Hart (Wisconsin Sea Grant), and Jeff Gray (Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve). The creation of a national system of marine protected areas relies on continuous input from federal, state, stakeholder, and users. One method of collecting information and feedback is through federal and state MPA workshops (with cultural resource breakout groups) and regional listening sessions. Additionally, the MPA Center is in the process of forming a federal MPA cultural resource working group comprised of submerged cultural resource policy and management experts within the federal agencies. The goals of this group will be to enhance coordination between federal agencies on issues related to maritime heritage and to obtain input during the MPA National System framework development. To identify agency and state coastal manager's requirements for volunteer diving in the effective management of submerged cultural resources within MPA boundaries, the MPA Center has proposed preparing an avocational archaeological diving needs assessment report. Other needs assessments, lessons learned, and science strategies will be developed as needed. Key Input from the Maritime Heritage Community The MPA Center is interested in providing tools, information, training, technical assistance, and/or science to assist cultural resource managers better manage and protect cultural resources in marine protected areas. Information is needed about which cultural resources currently exist within MMAs/MPAs. Threats and gaps in protection of these sites and resources need to be systematically identified to strengthen the effectiveness of cultural resource MPAs, as well as to increase protection of significant cultural resources located in other types of MPAs. Increased coordination and governance is needed to strengthen the national system of MPAs, as is enhanced public outreach and education about cultural heritage in the marine environment. Input from the maritime heritage community is vital to the development of a strong cultural heritage component of the national system of marine protected areas.
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