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The Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association (FMSA)
FMSA is the only non-profit membership organization dedicated to protecting the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary wildlife and habitats through the development of a diverse community of informed and active ocean Sanctuary stewards. Created in 1995, FMSA seeks to increase public appreciation and guardianship of our ocean wilderness.

ThomasKelder 17:48, 17 May 2007 (UTC) beware of spaces in before you start the line:

Private contributions support FMSA programs in which volunteers from the community work in collaboration with marine sanctuary staff. This unique partnership helps expand and strengthen the Sanctuary mission of ocean protection, research, careful resource management, and public education.

By coordinating and sponsoring programming and initiatives, the aim of protecting of the Sanctuary is ensured through education, research, and volunteer programming; building a concerned and aware public network to promote this goal.

Protecting our oceans. Since 1972, vast tracts of our nation's oceans and coastal waters have been set aside as National Marine Sanctuaries. The San Francisco Area is fortunate to be surrounded by three of the 13 sanctuaries—Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Cordell Bank Marine Sanctuary and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. While federal law protects these waters, federal funds to study their health and inhabitants are limited. At the same time, human population growth puts increasing pressure on the ocean and its resources. This means that the safeguarding of our marine sanctuaries has become an even more vital necessity.

ThomasKelder 17:48, 17 May 2007 (UTC) Instead of adding lines and bold markup for headers ( myheader''' ) use actual headers ( === myheader === )



ThomasKelder 17:48, 17 May 2007 (UTC) '''don't supply the full link....you want a thumbnail? do this:'''

@see Help:Images

FMSA’s Programs
FMSA offers education programs for K-12 students, teacher workshops, and lectures and excursions for the general public. A variety of programs address different needs. The Visitor Center Programs are 90 minute, hands-on, interactive and grade specific programs that meet the California State Curriculum requirements for Ocean Literacy. This means that elementary teachers can provide their students quality content and meet their annual teaching goals. At Your School Programs are also standards-based, but bring the curriculum and fun to local schools. Lastly, the Limpets program for grades 6-12 integrates long-term environmental monitoring work creating working baseline datasets for NOAA with the teaching of scientific research methods and recording.

Beach Watch is a long-term shoreline monitoring project that was founded in 1993. This year-round assessment program is conducted by dedicated volunteers who regularly survey an assigned beach within the Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries. Volunteers collect data on live and dead species of birds and marine mammals. They also report violations, detect oil pollution, and collect oil samples.

TO MENTION

SEALS Beach Cleanups

History of FMSA
1972: Vast tracks of ocean waters set aside, each to become a National Marine Sanctuary

1981: 12,000 square miles of open ocean and coastal waters are designated as the GFNMS

1991: The Sanctuary takes over management of recently designated (1989) Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary

1991: The Sanctuary celebrates its ten-year anniversary

1992: The Sanctuary moves to new offices at the old Coast Guard Building at Crissy Field in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area

1993: Beach Watch, a volunteer based shoreline monitoring program, is the first volunteer program in the DOC and the NMSS

1995: The Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association (FMSA) is created to direct community resources and provide financial and programmatic support to the GFNMS and the areas it manages

1996: FMSA takes over coordination of Beach Watch Program, which is cited in the Congressional Record as a significant volunteer program of the DOC

1996: Beach Watch and its volunteers are also recognized as vital in the response and clean up of the Cape Mohican oil spill

1997: The SEALS program is established to document the impact of human activity on harbor seals in Tomales Bay and Bolinas Lagoon

1998: The first National Marine Sanctuary visitor center is established in the Presidio of San Francisco, in just five months there are 4,500 visitors 1998: Beach Watch responds to the Command oil spill off of San Mateo County and fine funds are obtained by GFNMS for itself and Monterey Bay NMS

1999: FMSA Coordinates 150 volunteers contributing 38,500 hours, the equivalent of 19 full-time employees

1999: Beach Watch assesses natural resource damages for the Point Reyes National Seashore oil spill

1999: SEALS volunteers eliminate disturbance of harbor seals by clam diggers on Clam and Seal islands in Bolinas Bay

2000: High school intertidal monitoring program is established by Sanctuary Teacher-at-Sea Kathy Soave and FMSA

2000: FMSA's Executive Director Maria Brown is honored with NOAA's Environmental Hero Award

2002: OceanFest emerges out of a prior public anniversary event

2002: Beach Watch volunteers provide data and analysis for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) to the S/S Jacob Luckenbach oil spill

2002: FMSA trains and supports 300 high school students from 11 schools in four counties in sand crab monitoring; they contribute 1500+ hours of service

2003: OceanFest breaks all records by attracting more than 7,500 attendees

2004: More than 250 volunteers contribute an unprecedented 16,172 hours to FMSA programs

2005: FMSA celebrates its 10th Anniversary.

2006: Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi and Lynn Woolsey received the FMSA 2006 Ocean Hero Award for their leadership in marine conservation issues.

2007: Beach Watch Volunteer Program recognized for quick and effective response to 2007_San_Francisco_Bay_oil_spill.