Celebrating Collaborative Partnerships

The Galveston Bay ecosystem crosses numerous geopolitical boundaries; it ignores agency jurisdictions and land ownerships. Bridging the boundaries that subdivide the bay ecosystem is essential to informed and effective management of the Bay, which is used in many different ways by people, business, and industry residing in areas throughout the Galveston Bay watershed. The enabling bridging mechanism for the Galveston Bay Estuary Program is collaboration. The Galveston Bay Plan (The Plan) provides a framework for collaborative ecosystem based management of the Bay, and partners that recognize working together can be a win-win for all parties are the champions of this process. Estuary Program partnerships with local governments, business and industry, conservation organizations, Bay users, and resources agencies have advanced effectiveness of Bay ecosystem conservation efforts. These collective efforts as well as additional, individual efforts of partners to restore and conserve habitat, reduce shoreline erosion, improve water quality, build stewardship of bay resources, and enhance data collection for evaluation are helping sustain the Bay's ecological and economic services. Enhanced regional coordination is needed, but Galveston Bay continues to support multiple, important human uses. Progress to this end is commendable in light of present pressures and growing demands placed on Bay resources. So, in celebration of progress made since initiating implementation of the Galveston Bay Plan in 1995, the Estuary Program salutes its partners for their individual and collective contributions over the past 11 years.