Protecting the Gulf of Mexico: Leadership or Crisis?

by James D. Giattina

Introduction

The impressions from years gone by are painted across my memory with the soft strokes of a watercolorist: the granulated sugar dunes of Santa Rosa Island rising in pale relief to sea-foam crystal waters; the smell of salt intermingled with the rich undertones of marine life in its constant process of decay and rebirth; the cool evening breeze offering gentle sounds that drum a soft counterpoint to the distant pounding surf. These are but some of my childhood memories of the Gulf of Mexico a personal testimony to my sense of place that I often use to help restore my equilibrium when the pace of life is too hectic.

Most of the time, the Gulf is subtle, with its natural hues and textures occasionally punctuated by violence produced by combinations of sun, wind, and wave. It is, in many respects, a personal place. Because it is so large, it offers no alternative to those who visit or live on its shores but to form an intimate perspective and relationship with their particular part of it. My relationship with the Gulf of Mexico goes beyond my personal sense of this place to include my professional pursuits as the director of the Gulf of Mexico Program. Created to provide leadership, the program challenges all of us to expand our perspective and achieve new levels of cooperation and shared leadership.

The Gulf of Mexico Diversity of People, Resources, and Problems

The diversity of the Gulf, from the hypersaline waters of the Laguna Madre to the mangrove swamps of south Florida, contributes to the productivity of life and variety of cultural traditions that characterize this sea. When a Spanish fleet sailed into the Gulf waters in 1497, the human diversity and culture of the region already paralleled the physical diversity. From the Calusa of Florida's southwestern coast to the empire of the Aztecs, the depth and complexity of the native civilizations was largely unappreciated by the Europeans.

In the 500 years since its discovery by Spain, the Gulf of Mexico has become the Americas "Mediterranean" a wellspring of commerce and transportation, as well as an area of strategic military importance. The Gulf region has flown under many flags and that diverse political and cultural heritage is still evident in the architecture, linguistics, and political structure of the area. It is that vastness and diversity that often preclude us from seeing the fundamental relationships between the living and nonliving workings of this magnificent ecological system. As a result, the vastness of the Gulf is both its strength and its weakness. Its size and diversity contribute to its productivity, yet they also lull us into a sense of complacency with regard to our day-to-day actions and their potential impact on the Gulf.

A closer look at more specific areas and issues within the Gulf ecosystem reveals that many of the effects of human action are threatening the health and well-being of the Gulf. Following heavy rainfall in a particular area, nearby oyster beds are closed to harvesting because of inadequate or inappropriate sewage treatment. There is a large area of oxygen-depleted water off the mouth of the Mississippi River. This hypoxic zone cannot support normal marine life and is caused by human activities throughout the Mississippi River's drainage basin, which encompasses forty percent of the continental United States.

The continuing loss of Louisiana's vegetated coastal wetlands certainly rises to the level of crisis. This loss places at increasing risk the unique cultural heritage of coastal residents, whose lifestyle is closely attuned to the environment. Also at risk are billions of dollars in infrastructure, homes, schools, roads, towns, cities, ports, businesses, industries, and support and storage facilities. Moreover, coastal marshes are essential to various lifestages of over ninety percent of commercially and recreationally important marine species. Marsh loss threatens the very productive Gulf fisheries and the livelihoods of many.

While coastal wetland loss in Louisiana is caused in part by subsidence, a natural process in the Louisiana delta, it has been greatly accelerated by human activity. Following the disastrous 1927 flood, levees were built along the Mississippi River, stretching from upland areas all the way to the Gulf. These levees cut off the river from its natural floodplain, reducing the essential flow of nutrients and sediments needed to replenish the marshes. This effect, in turn, has been further accentuated by channeling of the coastal marshes to allow for oil and gas exploration and production, and improved transportation. The dissection of the coastal marshes, which was essential to the energy policy of the day, caused physical destruction and allowed the introduction of saltwater into previously freshwater marsh areas, hastening their demise. Finally, we cannot ignore the impact on the coastal marshes of nutria, a nonindigenous species. These voracious, beaverlike rodents are making their own contribution to the loss of Louisiana wetlands because of their propensity for eating marsh grasses roots and all.

As further evidence of the potentially destructive combination of natural and human forces, an unprecedented "red tide" occurred in the Gulf during the fall of 1996, impacting beaches and shellfish growing waters from Florida to Texas. These events, which are actually blooms of tiny organisms known as dinoflagellates, have occurred in the Gulf for many years. In the past red tides were confined to the waters of the western and northwestern Florida continental shelf, the east coast of Texas, and the Bay of Campeche, Mexico. The unusual 1996 event caused large-scale mortalities in fishes and invertebrates, and significant mortalities in the endangered Florida manatee. In addition, as these blooms approached shore, the toxic by-products of the bloom organisms contaminated shellfish, causing closures and harvest limitations. In some areas wave action generated toxic aerosols, causing respiratory problems, eye irritation, and allergic reactions for beach goers.

The link between the 1996 red tide event and land-based pollution, particularly excessive nutrient enrichment of Gulf coastal waters, is speculative at this time. With hope, future research will shed additional light on the causes of these blooms and those environmental factors that contribute to their persistence and movement.

Gulf of Mexico Program Offering Leadership Before Crisis

At the 1998 National Ocean Conference, the Honorable Leon Panetta observed that, "a democracy works best when there is either crisis or leadership." The warning signs we can already see reinforce the need for leadership in both protecting and fostering the sustainable use of the resources of the Gulf. Leadership requires foresight, and foresight is contingent on our ability to evaluate our current state, assess, and predict trends in key social, economic, and ecological indicators, and act to prevent those actions that will lead to ecological or economic crisis.

To prevent a systemic crisis we must redouble our efforts to remediate the problems of today. Those problems are harbingers of impacts to come, as the underlying stresses of population, coastal development, and energy production and transportation continue to expand on the Gulf the Nation's second fastest growing coastline.

In the 1980s, a variety of factors and events occurred that culminated in the formation of the Gulf of Mexico Program a multi-agency, "leadership forum" on Gulf environmental and natural resource issues. Citizens were becoming more vocal in their concerns over the environmental changes they were witnessing on the Gulf coast, such as habitat losses, endangered species, and toxic pollution. The latter concerns were most vividly expressed in 1983 at a public hearing on ocean incineration of hazardous waste conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). This single hearing drew approximately 6,000 people! Citizen opposition from the Gulf, Atlantic, and Pacific states was massive and adamant, and contributed to the cancellation of the ocean incineration program in 1988. 1

The ocean incineration issue galvanized public concern for the Gulf and served as a lightning rod for public frustration with what many saw as duplication and conflicting policies within and among agencies. Recognizing the need for coordinated policy development and implementation, as well as increased financial and technical assistance, citizens called for the formation of a program capable of addressing those concerns and responsible for taking a Gulfwide perspective on problems and their solutions. Federal and Gulf state agencies responded and, under the leadership of the U.S. EPA, formed the Gulf of Mexico Program in 1988.

The Gulf Program was modeled after the organization and management concepts embraced by the National Estuary Programs. Founded on the threefold principals of partnership, science-based information, and citizen involvement, the Gulf Program joined the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay Programs as flagships of the Nation's efforts to apply an adaptive management approach to large coastal freshwater and marine ecosystems.

From its inception, the Gulf Program was envisioned as a multi-agency partnership endeavor based on the simple premise that no single agency or institution had the technical skills, financial resources, or legislative authority needed to address the environmental or natural resource problems confronting an ecological system the size of the Gulf. Lacking a specific legislative mandate, the Program was structured around a Policy Review Board and a Technical Advisory Committee composed of representatives from the major federal and Gulf state agencies concerned with environmental protection and natural resource management, as well as representatives from business, industry, the environmental community, and academia.

Eight subcommittees were formed to characterize both the effects and the causes of key problems confronting the Gulf and to develop action agendas that could be implemented by the partnering agencies to resolve those problems. The issues included: living marine resources, public health, habitat loss, freshwater inflow, shoreline erosion, nutrient enrichment, marine debris, and toxic substances. The Program was bolstered by two support committees: one addressing public education and outreach, and the other data and information transfer among agencies.

Also key to the early momentum of the Program was a Citizens Advisory Committee appointed by the Governors' Offices. The Committee was composed of five representatives from each state, with each of the five representing a different interest: environmental, fisheries, tourism, business and industry, and agriculture.

Throughout its development, the Program has followed the principles of involving a broad constituency, building consensus, and basing decisions on technical information and science. The Program was established under the general authority of the Clean Water Act and operates under the guidelines and procedures of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Day-to-day administration and facilitation of the various Program committees and teams is the responsibility of the Gulf of Mexico Program Office, which is underwritten by the U.S. EPA.

Over its ten-year history, the Gulf of Mexico Program has assisted in characterizing some of the most difficult environmental issues confronting coastal waters and has implemented a variety of demonstration projects and studies that offer solutions to those problems. The Program has achieved an eighty percent match on dollars invested by the U.S. EPA by leveraging resources among state and federal agencies, and private nonprofit as well as for-profit organizations.

Program in Transition - A Partnership with a Purpose

Beginning in 1996 and stimulated by concerns over the Program possibly being "federally intrusive" and potentially fostering a regulatory agenda, the Gulf Program's Policy Review Board recommended a series of changes to the Program's organization and management to accomplish three objectives: (1) increase the involvement of key nongovernment interests; (2) enhance the opportunities for greater Gulf state leadership; and (3) focus the efforts of the partnership on a narrower range of environmental objectives to achieve demonstrable progress and measurable outcomes. Specific changes were instituted while the fundamental principles of partnership, science-based decision-making, and public involvement were reinforced.

The Program has streamlined federal agency representation on the Policy Review Board to improve the opportunities for strategic leadership by the Gulf state agencies and the nongovemment interests. At the same time, the Management Committee has been expanded to embrace a broader constituency so that key organizations and agencies are engaged more effectively in the operational aspects of the Program. Three key interest groups have also been brought into leadership positions on the Board and involved in all activities of the Program: business and industry, represented by the Gulf of Mexico Business Coalition; production agriculture, represented by the American Farm Bureau Federation's Gulf of Mexico Committee; and environmental and social justice interests, represented by the Gulf Restoration Network.

Finally, the Program has targeted four "focus areas" for concerted action: (1) public health (specifically shellfish and recreational water contamination and hazardous algal blooms); (2) excessive nutrient enrichment in numerous bays and estuaries and in the Gulf hypoxic zone on the Louisiana inner continental shelf; (3) habitat loss and degradation, with initial emphasis on emergent coastal wetlands and submerged aquatic vegetation; and (4) nonindigenous species introductions, principally targeting shrimp viruses and ballast water releases from commercial vessels. Focus teams have been formed for each area and charged with establishing measurable goals and objectives, defining baseline conditions, reaching consensus on the pathway of actions to achieve the objectives, working with the Management Committee and Policy Review Board to implement those actions, and identifying the key indicators for measuring progress.

The Program's focus teams are supported by three operational committees: the two noted earlier public education and outreach and data and information transfer and a new modeling, monitoring, and research committee. Finally, a scientific review committee has been established to oversee technical peer reviews of specific Program products and plans.

The Challenge of Scale

Kai N. Lee, Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College, noted in his seminal work Compass and Gyroscope: Integrating Science and Politics for the Environment:

Social learning is most urgently needed in large ecosystems: territories with a measure of ecological integrity that are divided among two or more governing jurisdictions. Large ecosystems present some of the most difficult problems of environmental science and policy. They are complex, often badly damaged, riven by deep-rooted rivalries among several jurisdictions, and essential to the well-being of large populations .... Large ecosystems provide opportunities for learning from and about the real world. Their governance presents challenges of science, management, and politics, often entangled in ways that resist simple approaches. But without some degree of simplification there can be no learning and no transfer from one case to others...2

Even though the ecological problems confronting the Gulf are complex and enormous on a geographic scale, these problems sometimes seem to pale in comparison to the institutional barriers fostered by the legal, regulatory, and. organizational landscape. Those barriers are founded on the very real challenges associated with human relationships, including our ability to communicate effectively and to develop, not only shared goals, but common and complementary approaches to achieving those goals. Governance of the Gulf of Mexico truly encompasses the challenges and opportunities in the areas of science, management, and politics noted by Dr. Lee. But, however great the challenges, the opportunities for learning and taking positive actions are even greater.

To seize those opportunities and achieve measurable improvements in the quality of life for the Gulf's citizens and in the quality of the Gulf's ecological foundation its water, land, air, and living resources the Gulf Program must form effective working partnerships partnerships with a purpose. The institutions and interests now at the table must be capable of taking decisive action and willing to address existing and emerging problems before they lead to systemic crises that cannot be ignored. In essence, the Gulf of Mexico Program must be viewed by all partners as a forum for identifying and resolving environmental issues in the Gulf ecosystem. Ultimately, the partnership will have to be broadened to embrace and invite the leadership of our international counterparts in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Conclusion

If we can capitalize on that individual sense of place and at the same time highlight the fact that the Gulf is one resource shared by all, then there is the very likely possibility that the experiment in governance we call the Gulf of Mexico Program will provide the leadership needed to avoid crisis. As former U.S. EPA Administrator William K. Reilly observed: the challenges and opportunities presented by the Gulf of Mexico "call upon us as never before to look beyond isolated pollution problems to chart a course of action broadly based on the health of the entire ecosystem, a course drawing together the creative energies of all levels of government, academia, business, environmental groups, and private citizens." The Gulf Program is doing just that to create a Gulf that continues to flourish in all its natural richness and variety, while embracing the needs and desires of its people. Both are inextricably linked and essential to the cultural fabric of the region and to the economic well-being of both the region and the nation.

James D. Giattina is the Director of the Gulf of Mexico Program Office located at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

ENDNOTES

1. Rachel's Hazardous Waste News #64. February 15, 1988. "EPA Abandons Effort to License Ocean-Going Incineration Ships." Environmental Research Foundation, Annapolis, Maryland.

2. Kai N. Lee. 1993. Compass and Gyroscope: Integrating Science and Politics for the Environment. Island Press, Washington, D.C.

3. Weber, M., R.T. Townsend, and R. Bierce 1992. Environmental Quality in the Gulf of Mexico: A Citizen's Guide. Center for Marine Conservation, Washington, D.C.

 TOP

"Serving Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City, Pensacola, Crestview, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field and all points in-between..."