Shell Provides $420,000 for Ten Marine Conservation Projects; Storm Spotter Network and Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Conservation Among Projects.

WASHINGTON and HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1998--The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today named the first recipients for funding through the Shell Marine Habitat Program for the Gulf of Mexico. This habitat conservation program is funded by a $5 million gift over five years by the Shell Oil Company Foundation. Initial funding for this program was provided by the Shell Oil Company Foundation in April.

NFWF selected a total of ten conservation projects in Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Iowa, along with the National Weather Service, to be supported in this first round of awards. The Shell Marine Habitat Program, established in April, is funding Gulf Coast habitat protection, management research and environmental education projects to further the understanding of the dynamics between oceans, estuaries and man's use of them.

"The Shell Marine Habitat Program serves as a catalyst to assure that important marine resource issues are addressed and will help bring the Gulf of Mexico's unique ecosystem to the public's attention," said Amos Eno, Executive Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Shell Oil Company President and CEO Jack Little said, "A thriving and vibrant Gulf of Mexico is important to all of us, and we're pleased to be working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to enhance the Gulf's marine habitat."

The Shell Marine Habitat Program is providing more than $420,000 in seed capital to these ten projects. Grantees must match Shell funds on a minimum of a one-to-one basis. The Shell grants announced today, combined with matching funds, will deliver an investment of nearly $1.4 million. Among others, the Shell grants announced today include $30,000 for a Caribbean Storm Spotter Network, $50,000 for Kemp's ridley sea turtle conservation and $100,000 for land acquisitions around Laguna Madre, Texas.

The Shell Marine Habitat Program is a grant program funded by the Shell Oil Company Foundation and administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Shell's award to NFWF to create the Shell Marine Habitat Program is the largest corporate funded marine habitat grant ever made. It was created in April 1998 when Shell announced a five-year, $5 million pledge to support projects that conserve, protect and enhance the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. The Shell Marine Habitat Program also accepts private and corporate donations from other sources.

The Shell Marine Habitat Program is designed to address critical Gulf of Mexico habitat needs. Shell Marine Habitat Program grants are selected on a competitive basis and are peer reviewed before selection. The grants announced today are the first round of projects selected for funding under this program. When the next round of grants is announced in November, nearly half a million dollars of additional grant money will be awarded to other worthy projects. In subsequent years, grant winners will be announced in the fall and spring. Contact the NFWF or visit their web site ( www.nfwf.org ) for information on the application process.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is dedicated to promoting improved conservation and sustainable use of our nation's natural resources and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was established by an act of Congress in 1984. Its goals are conservation education, natural resource management, habitat protection, ecosystem restoration and public policy development. NFWF meets these goals by developing partnerships and supporting conservation activities that address the root cause of environmental problems.

Editor's Note: Fact Sheets Follow

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               SHELL MARINE HABITAT PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE

TEXAS                                                           Shell Grant
The Nature Conservancy for
 the Laguna Madre Acquisition                                    $100,000
Matching funds:  $200,000    Total funding:  $300,000
Project area:  southern Texas, Gulf Coast
Padre Island National Seashore
 for Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Conservation                     $50,000
Matching funds:  $100,000    Total funding:  $150,000
Project area:  Corpus Christi/Padre Island, Texas
Texas Parks & Wildlife for Jumbile Cove
 Wetland Restoration                                             $50,000
Matching funds:  $294,000    Total funding:  $344,000
Project area:  West Galveston Bay, Texas
University of Texas at Austin for Red Tide
 Monitoring for Texas Waters                                     $22,780
Matching funds:   $69,107    Total funding:   $91,887
Project area:  entire Texas coastal zone
Houston Sierra Club for Texas Coastal
 Wetlands Restoration                                             $20,000
Matching funds:   $40,000    Total funding:   $60,000
Project area:  South Texas
MISSISSIPPI
Univ. of Southern Mississippi for a
 Multimedia Guide to Invertebrates                             $50,000
Matching funds:   $82,000    Total funding:  $132,000
Project area:  Ocean Springs, Miss.
FLORIDA
Univ. of South Florida for
 Florida Seagrass Restoration                                     $49,100
Matching funds:   $57,300    Total funding:  $106,400
Project area:  Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg, Fla.
Yankeetown Middle School for
 its Aquaculture Education Project                             $15,300
Matching funds:   $21,600    Total funding:   $36,900
Project area:  Northwest coastal Florida, Levy County
IOWA
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
 for the Iowa Model Buffer Project                             $33,440
Matching funds:   $64,500    Total funding:   $97,940
Project area:  Raccoon River watershed, central Iowa
GULFWIDE
NOAA, National Weather Service for the
 Caribbean Storm Spotter Network                             $30,000
Matching funds:   $30,000    Total funding:   $60,000
Project area:  some Caribbean islands

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SHELL MARINE HABITAT PROGRAMS FACT SHEETS

Laguna Madre Acquisition (southern Texas, Gulf Coast)

The Nature Conservancy of Texas will use its Shell grant to begin a campaign to purchase at least 35,000 acres of conservation lands on Padre Island, Boca Chica and adjacent to mainland national wildlife refuges and state parks.

The Laguna Madre system is home to: commercially important fisheries like shrimp, crabs, red drum and spotted sea trout; waterfowl like the Northern Pintail and American Widgeon; and it is the wintering ground for 80 percent of North America's wintering Redhead duck population.

As a part of this project, The Nature Conservancy will conduct baseline biological surveys to assess threats and stresses on the Laguna Madre system and will develop conservation strategies to abate those threats.

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Conservation (Corpus Christi and Padre Island, Texas)

Shell has awarded a grant to the National Park Service at Padre Island National Seashore to implement conservation, research and education programs for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle. The Kemp's ridley is the most critically endangered sea turtle species in the world, with only about 3,000 adults remaining in the entire population.

Padre Island National Seashore provides important nesting habitat for this species and is the only significant confirmed Kemp's ridley nesting location in the United States.

Jumbile Cove Wetland Restoration (West Galveston Bay, Texas)

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's grant from Shell will be used for a restoration effort aimed at abating the erosion of Galveston Bay wetlands. Erosion has resulted in dramatic loss of wetland acreage. At the present erosion rate, most of the remaining intertidal habitats are expected to be gone within five years.

These wetlands provide crucial habitat for many species of concern to the State of Texas, including the brown pelican, the roseate spoonbill, the osprey, the piping plover, the least tern and the Texas diamondback terrapin.

Red Tide Monitoring for Texas Waters (entire Texas coastal zone)

Shell is providing grant money to the University of Texas at Austin to conduct the first scientific program to monitor red tide in offshore Texas waters. Red tides can result in fish kills, can be an important source of mortality for manatees and can cause health problems in humans.

Water samples will be collected to identify the presence, absence and concentration of red tide along the Texas coast. The resulting data will be of great use to Texas Parks and Wildlife in the assessment and management of coastal fisheries and habitats, as well as the Texas Department of Health in their monitoring for contamination of shellfish.

Texas Coastal Wetlands Restoration (South Texas)

Using its Shell grant, the Houston Sierra Club will restore more than 600 acres of wetlands on four sites along the Texas Gulf Coast. The wetland restoration sites include the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a property owned by the Katy Prairie Conservancy and a farm owned by Formosa Plastics in Point Comfort.

The projects are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of overwintering waterfowl, migrating shorebirds and wading birds, comprising more than 140 different species.

Multimedia Guide to Invertebrates (Ocean Springs, Miss.)

With its grant from Shell, the University of Southern Mississippi's J.L. Scott Marine Education Center will develop an interactive, computer-based training module on invertebrate species of the Gulf of Mexico.

This program will be incorporated within the Center's Project Marine Discovery program, a highly regarded, hands-on education program for middle and high school students designed to raise their awareness and understanding of marine conservation issues.

Florida Seagrass Restoration (Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg, Fla.)

The University of South Florida is receiving a grant from Shell to study two techniques that could greatly improve the success of transplanted seagrass in high disturbance areas.

Seagrass beds provide important water quality and wildlife habitat benefits; however, in the last 30 years, seagrass acreage has dramatically declined.

Yankeetown Aquaculture Education Project (Northwest coastal Florida, Levy County)

The Yankeetown Middle School, with the help of this grant from Shell, will engage students and teachers in a coastal ecosystem study initiative by establishing a hard clam aquaculture site in the Gulf of Mexico.

This site will be used to enhance students' understanding of the dynamics and value of renewable coastal resources and how these resources can be used without being harmed. Students will be responsible for growing juvenile clam seed to maturation and monitoring the biotic and abiotic factors affecting clam growth.

Iowa Model Buffer Project (Raccoon River watershed, central Iowa)

This grant from Shell will allow the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to assess and restore native vegetation on some 40 riparian sites bid into the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program and Wetland Reserve Program in the Raccoon River Watershed. This model program will lead to more effective ways to invest conservation money to reduce nutrient-loading in the Mississippi Basin.

The native grasses that make up Iowa's prairies have tremendous buffering and filtering capacity. They are especially notable in their uptake of vast quantities of nitrogen, a nutrient which in overabundance in streams and rivers can cause algal blooms and hypoxic conditions. Hypoxia occurs when part of a water column has a decreased oxygen supply or no oxygen supply, which can have an adverse effect on marine life.

Caribbean Storm Spotter Network (up to 26 Caribbean islands)

With this grant from Shell, the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will establish a network of amateur radio operators, called ham operators, to serve as tropical storm spotters and weather recorders on selected Caribbean Islands. Amateur radio operators can be instrumental in providing critical storm information to the National Weather Service in a quick and cost-effective manner.

The observations from these spotters will be critical for forecasting tropical storms, and also for post-storm and recovery analysis which are critical to natural resource managers throughout the Gulf Coast.