Policy: USA – Regions
The national ocean policy subdivides the United States into nine regions (see map) for coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP). In each region, a Regional Planning Body (RPB) will develop and implement a CMS plan. As of this writing, the RPBs are not yet established. However, state and federal agencies in some regions have begun collaborating to develop ocean planning and governance approaches that span state and federal jurisdictions.
In five of the nine regions, Regional Ocean Partnerships (ROPs) have been established, including the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC), Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on Oceans (MARCO), Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, and West Coast Governors’ Agreement. Each ROP was formed through Governors’ agreements with varying levels of federal participation. In the coming years, the existing ROPs will either directly support or become formal RPBs that implement CMSP and manage large-scale public processes.
Regional-level Action by The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is contributing scientific, technical, and policy expertise to assist these regional efforts. The following are examples of the Conservancy’s activities to date.
- The Conservancy has sponsored eight workshops—many in partnership with ROPs—to educate government, industry, academia, and non-government organizations on the opportunity and challenges of implementing CMSP. These workshops convened hundreds of ocean users and documented the status of CMSP science, knowledge, and tools around the nation.
- Ecoregional assessments conducted by The Nature Conservancy over the last several years are a valuable source of scientific data for regional ocean planning. These are among the few available data at geographic scales comparable to the nine CMSP regions, and in some cases they are the only available regional data sets.
- The Nature Conservancy is developing decision support tools for CMSP. Under contract from the Virginia Coastal Zone Program on behalf of MARCO, the Conservancy designed and produced the MARCO Mapping and Planning Portal to support regional scale CMSP for the Mid-Atlantic. Similarly, the Conservancy’s staff is helping to lead the development of the Northeast Ocean Data Portal for NROC. Both portals include key map layers on administrative boundaries, human uses, and ecological features, and new data and decision support features are being added.
- Staff members from The Nature Conservancy hold committee seats or provide frequent invited counsel for ROPs. Formal roles include two seats on NROC’s Ocean and Ecosystem and Health Subcommittee, a leadership role for the Northeast Ocean Data Portal Working Group, a seat on MARCO’s CMSP Action Team and an appointment to the Renewable Energy Action Coordination Team of the West Coast Governors’ Agreement. A Conservancy staff member is a member of the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance Executive Team and a mentor to the Healthy Ecosystem Technical Team.
For More Information
- NOAA CMSP Website: Regional Activities
- Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC)
- Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on Oceans (MARCO)
- Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance
- Gulf of Mexico Alliance
- West Coast Governors’ Agreement