Save the date for the 2014 NERRS/NERRA Annual Meeting

We hope that you will be able to join us for the 2014 NERRS/NERRA Annual Meeting at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepardstown, WV the week of 

November 18 - 21, 2014.

It is a great time to connect with representatives from Friends and Foundations around the country as well as an opportunity to learn more about what is happening at the national level.  

Stay tuned for more information to follow including a link to the Annual Meeting official website coming later this month.  

I ♥ Estuaries campaign - resources and logos available

This Valentine’s Day, we want show Congress and the Administration that there is lots of love for estuaries and that cuts break our heart. In order to demonstrate support for your reserve, NERRA is joining forces to celebrate Valentine’s Day through a joint, 3-day “I heart estuaries” campaign February 12-14.  For more information on the program and details on how you can help - please check out Resources and Documents Page.  You will also find links to the campaign logo.  

Colleague Nik Charov - President of Laudholm Trust created a logo of his own (see above) and is offering it to all.  The photo can be used as shown above or customized for your reserve by changing the estuary image in the background. This image and a photo shop version (for manipulation) can be found below and on the Resources and Documents Page.  No photo credit needed!

Niks kiss my estuary photo

Niks kiss my estuary photo - photo shop 

And check out Nik's post about the campaign on The Wrack: blog of the wells reserve & laudholm trust.  

Spring Meeting Follow up and Resources

On Tuesday, April 3, we held the Friends and Foundation Spring Webinar Meeting. We are pleased that so many Friends could join us as well as several Managers! If you were unable to join us for this meeting - read on for more information on the meeting and stay tuned for another opportunity to meet coming up in May/June.

During the meeting we reviewed the current budget situation and discussed some ways to help make a difference in final funding for the NERRS program. We have posted several of the documents we viewed during the meeting on the Resources and Documents page. Here is what we posted...

Overview of funding and Review of the Budget Process - These two documents were used to show the budget relevant to previous years and shows a timeline for the funding process. There is still time to make a difference!

Postcard Examples - Creating postcards that can be filled out and sent in to Representatives may be another way to have voices from our communities heard. Thanks to Mission-Aransas NERR for sharing this idea and example with all of us. NERRA is considering ways to assist you with this effort. More on this to come....

Economic Information Workbook - Healthy estuaries contribute to the economic well-being of our communities. Estimates of some of these impacts were shared on a national level through the Primer. Use these spreadsheets to come up with economic information specific for your Reserve or state. Check out North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR's example to see how this can be used to show how your reserve impacts the local and regional economy.

GTM NERR's Sate of the Reserve Case Study

The State of the Reserve is an annual event that began in 2010 at GTM NERR. The afternoon program highlights the past year of outstanding research, stewardship, and education at GTM NERR and is an opportunity to share our work and show our appreciation to our local communities, partners, and stakeholders.

We ask that all of our 'stake holders' aka anyone who has been influenced or cooperated with the reserve to please join us for an afternoon of presentations followed by a local food and wine reception and poster session. For more information and to RSVP please see the link below.

http://stateofthereserve2011.eventbrite.com/