Steve Turek

Local Action Strategy

In 2002 the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force adopted the "Puerto Rico Resolution" which calls for the development of three-year Local Action Strategies (LAS) by each of the seven member U.S. states, territories and commonwealths. These LAS are locally-driven roadmaps for collaborative and cooperative action among federal, state, territory and non-governmental partners which identify and implement priority actions needed to reduce key threats to valuable coral reef resources.

The goals and objectives of the LAS are linked to those found in the U.S. National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs, adopted by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force in 2000. From the thirteen goals identified in the National Action Plan, the Task Force prioritized six threat areas as the focus for immediate local action: over-fishing, land-based sources of pollution, recreational overuse and misuse, lack of public awareness, climate change and coral bleaching, and disease. Additional focus areas were identified in some jurisdictions.

Florida, Hawaii, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands created specific Local Action Strategies for select locally relevant threats, using the six priority focus areas as a guide. Applying a collaborative decision-making process based on local needs, concerns and capacities, each jurisdiction developed strategies that contain a variety of projects designed for implementation over a three-year period (FY2005-2007).

Update:
Currently, the Task Force is working with each jurisdiction to finalize and implement their LAS by inventorying opportunities, identifying resources, gaps and needs, and seeking ways to increase funding and capacity support.

A series of factsheets were produced to provide an overview of the LAS development process and to highlight the goals, objectives and project examples for each of the seven states and territories. Individual pdf files for each of the 8 factsheets are available to download for reproduction and distribution.

The point of contact, LAS factsheets, and draft LAS documents for each Jurisdiction are provided below.

LAS OVERVIEW
LAS General Information Factsheet

AMERICAN SAMOA
Lelei Peau
American Samoa Department of Commerce
Lelei.Peau@noaa.gov
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document

CNMI
Fran Castro
Division of Environmental Quality
FranCastro@deq.gov
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document

FLORIDA
Chantal Collier
Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas
Chantal.Collier@dep.state.fl.us
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document

GUAM
Vangie Lujan
Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources
vange@mail.gov.gu
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document

HAWAII
Athline Clark
Department of Land and Natural Resources
Athline.M.Clark@hawaii.gov
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document

PUERTO RICO
Aileen Velazco
Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
avelazco@caribe.net
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document

USVI
Victor Somme
Division of Coastal Zone Management
Victor.Somme@dpnr.gov.vi
LAS factsheet
Link: LAS document