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The Gulf of Maine Restoration Coalition is an alliance of non-profit conservation organizations, business interests, and other stakeholders committed to educating decision-makers and their constituents about the economic and environmental benefits of restoring the coastal waters, bays, rivers, and watersheds of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts that flow into the Gulf of Maine.

The coalition generally does not advocate for policy positions other than funding for restoration, but focuses on the positive benefits of repairing or replacing essential infrastructure such as dams, road crossings, and waste and storm water systems that impact public health and safety, and addressing other issues such as invasive species that negatively impact the region’s resource-based economy.

Background--the Need for Restoration: 300+ years of development and industrialization in New England have left the region with a legacy of degraded infrastructure and compromised natural systems that negatively impact public health and safety and the region’s economy. Thousands of obsolete dams and improperly installed culverts throughout the coastal watersheds pose risks of failure and flooding, and also block prime spawning habitat for migratory fish. Efforts to improve water quality in both rivers and the coastal environment are hampered by aging waste and storm water infrastructure that is insufficient to handle the pressures of development and increasingly violent weather events. Rapidly increasing populations of invasive species in near coastal waters are causing alarm among fishermen and natural resource managers.

The cost of addressing these and other problems is assessed in the US Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration and Conservation Plan, developed by dozens of state and federal agency representatives under the auspices of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. This study, released in December 2010, documents an immediate need for over $3 billion ($20 billion long-term) of federal investment in the three Gulf of Maine states (MA, NH & ME) for infrastructure repairs and upgrades to dams, road crossings, water treatment facilities, and other infrastructure that impacts public health and safety, and the region’s economy. Many of these costs are also documented in the Infrastructure Report Card published by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Summary of Restoration Costs Protect and Restore Fish and Wildlife Habitats and Populations: $267,513,000 Provide Clean, Healthy Coastal Waters: 	     	      $2,689,626,000 Conduct Science, Planning, and Communication:                  $ 29,700,000 Promote Resilience to Climate Change: 	                       $  33,800,000 Prevent & Detect Invasive Species, and Restore Affected Habitats: $8,870,000 Total estimated need in first five years:		    $ 3,029,509,000

According to the study, this funding is needed for “shovels in the earth” restoration activities that include  1)	Stopping raw sewage and pollution from flowing into rivers and bays by repairing or replacing ineffective and failing waste and storm water systems;  2)	Minimizing threats to public safety by removing failing dams and upgrading road crossings (culverts)--solutions that will also restore access to prime spawning grounds for migratory fish;  3)	Protecting populations of valuable fish and wildlife species by conserving and restoring critical habitat ;  4)	Addressing the growing threat from invasive species, and;  5)	Conducting science, planning, and communication to ensure efficient and adequate implementation of restoration activities.

The study notes that there is currently no federal agency or organization poised to coordinate restoration activities specific to this region, and no designated source of federal funding comparable to what Congress routinely appropriates for restoration of the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound and other nationally significant "Great Waters" water bodies (see table below). There is consensus among state agencies in the Gulf of Maine that the region needs action by Congress and the Administration to accelerate the pace of restoration work, and that this should probably take the form of a congressionally-authorized Program Office and a programmatic line item in the federal budget.

The return on investment from restoration projects is significant because these activities create local jobs and fuel local economies. Direct benefits as outlined in a Brookings Institution Study for the Great Lakes include jobs in construction, engineering, science and other related fields. Other significant benefits include improved viability of fish populations critical to the commercial fishing industry, increased revenues from recreational activities such as tourism, fishing, swimming, and boating, increased property values wherever water quality is improved, and restored populations of commercially important fish.

Federal Funding for Other “Great Waters” Numerous restoration programs similar to the one proposed here are already underway in other regions of the country. This is a partial list of congressional appropriations for fiscal 2012:

Great Lakes 	 $299,520,000 <BR> Chesapeake Bay 	 $57,299,000 	<BR> South Florida	 $2,058,000 	<BR> San Francisco Bay $5,838,000 	<BR> Gulf of Mexico	 $5,455,000 	<BR> Lake Champlain	 $2,395,000 	<BR> Puget Sound	 $29,952,000 	<BR>