GRN NEWS

10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Volume 8, Issue 4 December 2004

GRN BEGINNINGS
To celebrate our 10th anniversary, the GRN asked board members, staff, and peers to write articles about
the GRN’s work over the past decade. The following is an account of the GRN’s earliest days written by
founding board member Robert Wiygul.
The Gulf Restoration Network had its humble beginnings on the front porch of a beach house (set at an
environmentally safe distance behind the primary dunes, of course) over between Destin and Grayton
Beach in the Florida Panhandle. I remember it well because Vic Sher, then the head of the Sierra Club
Legal Defense Fund, asked me to help put together a group of activists to come to Florida and discuss a
coalition that would address the major environmental issues affecting the Gulf of Mexico.

I remember it particularly well because at the time I had just moved from New Orleans to the Colorado
office of the Defense Fund, and I thought Vic had a rather ambitious view of the geographical area I was
supposed to cover from up there in the Rockies. After reflection, however, I recognized the real
possibilities in what Vic was proposing: i.e., an opportunity to take all my activist buddies on an expense-
paid trip to the beach.

At the time, and now in hindsight, it was an

impressive group of activists from across the Gulf
Coast, so perhaps I should not be surprised that
ten years later the GRN is still around. I think
what is surprising is that after gestating in the
belly of the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund for a
few years, the organization went out and matured
into something considerably larger and stronger
than I ever would have really anticipated, with a The GRN’s humble beginnings— environmentalists gather in Four
real leadership role across the Gulf. Mile Village, Florida, in 1994.

I believe that several things have allowed the GRN to endure and prevail. It needed to be invented to
protect a great resource that was and is under great threats. It has managed to grow in an organic way,
responding to real needs that come from grassroots rather than from the top down. And most important, it
has had a top-notch staff, who took the dreamy dreams from that beach house porch and turned them into a
hard-edged, technically savvy, living, breathing organism.
 ANNIVERSARY THOUGHTS
By founding board member and current Chair Mark Davis
When Robert Wiygul asked me join a group of at least their little corner of it. We all needed help,
folks interested the health of the Gulf of Mexico but we did not need a new player that sucked up all
and the communities and natural resources around the resources and usurped our various programs. In
it, I said “Sure” because I always say that when short, we needed an organization unlike any we had
Robert asks for something. I seen before.
agreed to go to Four Mile Village
in San Destin, Florida, but I really We needed the Gulf Restoration
had no idea what to expect. It was Network.
1994 and times were tough for the
Gulf and people who cared about Forming the GRN was not easy
it, and wetlands, water quality, but I have to say that I am very
fisheries, wildlife habitat, and the proud to have been part of its
health of our seafood all needed creation and I am proud to be
attention. So even though I part of it today. Both I and the
wasn’t sure what to expect, I was Mark Davis, fourth from left, poses with GRN Coalition to Restore Coastal
excited to go because it was clear board members at a mid-90’s meeting in Louisiana have gotten far more
that we needed to work smarter Texas. out the GRN than we ever put
and more regionally and to learn into it and are more effective
from the experience of others. because of it. But more than that, one of our
nation’s greatest treasures is also better off—far
At that time there was no organization that could better—because of the GRN. It has been such a
both serve the Gulf as a whole and those folks good experience, I almost look forward to my next
across the region who were trying to improve it, or call from Robert.

GRN PUBLICATIONS
“Costly Corps: How the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Spends Your Tax Dollars to Destroy America’s
Natural Resources.” Published April, 1996.
“Destruction by Design: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Continuing Assault on America's
Environment.” Published December, 1999. This report covers the needless destruction of the Gulf's
precious wetlands, the Corps’ waste of taxpayer dollars and failure to comply with environmental laws.
Available online at: http://www.gulfrestorationnetwork.org/wetlands/Destruction%20by%20Design.htm
“Dubious Delistings.” Published June, 2002. The GRN released two reports challenging Louisiana’s and
Mississippi’s removal of water bodies from their lists of polluted waters warranting clean-up plans.
Available online at: http://www.gulfrestorationnetwork.org/water/Listing.Report.LA.PDF and
http://www.gulfrestorationnetwork.org/water/Listing.Report.MS.PDF
“Guide to Protecting Wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico.” Published June, 2001. This guide has been
provided to hundreds of citizens and served as the basis for numerous wetland trainings in Gulf
communities. Available online at:
http://www.gulfrestorationnetwork.org/wetlands/Wetlands%20Manual.htm
Back issues of the GRN News are available at:
http://www.gulfrestorationnetwork.org/overview/newsletter.htm

Page 2 DECEMBER 2004

 WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT OUR SUPPORTERS?
You cannot reach your tenth anniversary without • Belvedere Fund (of the Rockefeller Family Fund)
looking back on what made your organization’s • Ben & Jerry’s Foundation
work possible. When first formed, the GRN was a • Booth Bricker Foundation
single employee organization that was severely • Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
restricted in the breadth of issues it could address. • Dorothy-Dorsett Brown Foundation
With the help and continuing support of numerous • Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation
foundations, we have been able to grow to a staff of • Environmental Support Center
five and become an organization that is capable of
• Greater New Orleans Foundation
addressing many of the issues facing the Gulf:
• McKnight Foundation
wetlands loss, water quality, sustainable fisheries,
protection of marine biodiversity, and mercury • Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation
contamination. • Moriah Fund
• PEW Charitable Trusts
We recognize that none of this growth would have • Regional Marine Conservation Project
been possible without the financial investment made • River Network
by our funders. So, on this important anniversary, • Rockefeller Brothers Fund
we wish to extend a special thanks to those • RosaMary Foundation
Foundations that have supported us throughout this • SFC Charitable Foundation
period. We can honestly say that we could not • Surdna Foundation
have accomplished what we have in the last ten • Trull Foundation
years without them. • Turner Foundation

PRAISE FROM PEERS

I am so honored to have this opportunity to say thank you to all The help the Gulf Restoration Network has provided to me
the wonderful people at GRN for the extraordinary work they on different projects, especially Mississippi TMDL's, has
do. We the residents of the community of North Gulfport will allowed me to make a small difference on Mississippi's
always be grateful to you for your compassion, dedication and impaired waterbodies.
commitment to empowering a low income and
underserved community like ours to stand up In today's times it is often hard to find
and fight for justice. Again and again the GRN people with knowledge, the willingness to
has come to the aid of poor working people on share, and the ability to explain it to
environmental justice issues in Mississippi who others. For your time, your data, your
did not have the resources to protect their willingness, your comment letters, your
communities. The reality is without your knowledge, your phone calls, your
research and technical support our community encouragement and the newsletters, I once
would have experienced a tremendous increase again thank you for taking the time to help
in flooding to our homes, churches and educate me, for caring enough to share and
streets. Congratulations GRN! Vicki Murillo, Director for Water help me, and for making a difference!!
—Rose Johnson, Co-chair, Gulfport Concerned Resources, educates children about —Paula Vassey, Conservation Chair,
Citizens Coalition and Co-chair, MS Sierra Club wetlands at the 2004 Ocean Commotion in Gulf Coast Group
Baton Rouge, LA.

In 2000, the City of Jackson, Alabama withdrew its proposal to construct a port facility along the Tombigbee River in
Alabama. The port was the main justification for the Corps' planned construction of a navigation spur that would have destroyed
189 acres of bottomland hardwood wetlands. The GRN worked with the Alabama Environmental Council to oppose the Spur
Canal and Port Facility, and significantly contributed to our success by crafting extensive comments from a legal perspective on
both the draft and final environmental impact statement. Together, we were able to protect important habitat in our state!
—Kirsten G. Bryant, Former Alabama Environmental Council Executive Director

Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 3

 A GRN TIMELINE
1994
November Historic meeting at Four Mile Village (San Destin)—the GRN is formed.

1995
November Cynthia Sarthou is hired as the first staff person, with the title Network Coordinator.

1996
April The GRN holds its first Annual Meeting in
Biloxi, Mississippi.

1997

April The GRN and the Clean Water Network hold a joint meeting the Gold Head Branch State Park
near Lake City, Florida.

1998
January The GRN hosts Mike Davis and Chip Smith of the Office
of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works on
a tour of projects in Alabama and Mississippi. Following
the tour, the Office of the Assistant Secretary issued a
temporary moratorium on the issuance of permits for casino
development in coastal Mississippi.

April GRN Annual Meeting, Beckwith Camp and Conference Center, Fairhope, Alabama.

June Chris Dorsett is hired as the first Director of the Fisheries Program.

Page 4 DECEMBER 2004

 A GRN TIMELINE
1999
July The IRS grants the GRN 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

September The GRN hosts Davis Secretary to modify a

and Smith in a tour development permit in coastal
focused on projects Florida to reduce habitat loss
and permitting and to investigate the illegal
practices in Florida. drainage of a large wetland area
The tour spurs the in coastal Florida.
Office of the Assistant

2000
May Susie Little is hired as the GRN’s first Office Administrator.

July The GRN sponsors a tour of Mississippi projects for Mike Grunwald, reporter
for the Washington Post. That tour resulted in the publication of articles on
the Yazoo Pumps project, the Turkey Creek Development, and Mississippi
Casinos as part of a weeklong series on Corps reform.

Fall The GRN launches its website, opens its first office in New Orleans, and hires its first
Director of the Water Quality and Wetlands Program, Cynthia Goldberg.

2001
Spring The GRN staff and Board complete a Strategic Plan for 2000-2006.

March GRN Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA

2002

April GRN Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas.

September GRN sponsors a regional symposium, When the Water Runs Dry: The
Need to Maintain a Balance between Human Water Use and
Environmental Needs in Southern States. Sen. Paul Simon serves as the
keynote speaker.

2003
April U.S. PIRG and the GRN co-sponsor the first Save Our Seafood Dine-Out.

Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 5

 Founded in 1994, the Gulf Res-
toration Network is a section
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
committed to uniting and em-
TO ALL OUR MEMBER GROUPS! powering people to protect and
restore the resources of the Gulf
ALABAMA ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL - Birmingham, AL Region, forever protecting it for
ALABAMA RIVERS ALLIANCE - Birmingham, AL future generations.
ALLIANCE FOR AFFORDABLE ENERGY - New Orleans, LA
AMERICAN LITTORAL SOCIETY, SE CHAPTER - Sarasota, FL Board of Directors
BAYOU PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION - Houston, TX
CARIBBEAN CONSERVATION CORPORATION - Gainesville, FL Casi Callaway
CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER - New Iberia, LA Mobile Bay Watch/Mobile Baykeeper
CITIZENS FOR A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT - Baton Rouge, LA Mobile, AL
CLEAN WATER NETWORK - Tallahassee, FL
COALITION TO RESTORE COASTAL LOUISIANA - Baton Rouge, LA Mark Davis—Chair
COAST ALLIANCE - Washington, DC Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
COASTAL BEND BAYS FOUNDATION - Corpus Christi, TX Baton Rouge, LA
CYPRESS SWAMP TOUR - Westwego, LA Robert Hastings
DEEP SOUTH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE - New Orleans Alabama Natural Heritage Program
DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE - Washington, DC Montgomery, AL
DELGADO GREENS - New Orleans, LA
DELTA LAND TRUST - Madison, MS Rose Johnson—Vice-Chair
EARTHSHORES FOUNDATION - Bay St. Louis, MS Concerned Citizens Coalition
ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION - St. Petersburg, FL Gulfport, MS
ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF MISSISSIPPI - Madison, MS Joe Murphy
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFEDERATION OF SOUTHWEST FLA - Sarasota, FL Sierra Club
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE - Austin, TX Tampa, FL
FRIENDS OF THE FENHOLLOWAY RIVER - Salem, FL
GALVESTON BAY CONSERVATION & PRESERVATION - Seabrook, TX Juan Parras
GULF COAST ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE - Gulf Breeze, FL TSU Law Clinic
GULF ISLAND CONSERVANCY, INC. - Biloxi, MS Houston, TX
HELP OUR POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT - Salem, FL Bob Schaeffer
INFORMED CHOICES - Slidell, LA Public Policy Communications
LAFAYETTE PARISH BAYOU VERMILION DISTRICT - Lafayette, LA Sanibel, FL
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS - New Orleans, LA
LONE STAR SIERRA CLUB - Austin, TX Page Williams
LOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE - New Orleans, LA Sierra Club—Lone Star Chapter
LOUISIANA ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK - Baton Rouge, LA Houston, TX
LOUISIANA WILDLIFE FEDERATION - Baton Rouge, LA Robert Wiygul—Acting Secretary/
MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN ALLIANCE - New Orleans, LA Treasurer
MISSISSIPPI WILDLIFE FEDERATION - Ridgeland, MS Waltzer and Associates
MOBILE BAY WATCH/MOBILE BAYKEEPER - Mobile, AL Biloxi, MS
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY LIVING OCEANS PROGRAM - Islip, NY
OCEAN CONSERVANCY - St. Petersburg, FL
PELICAN AUDUBON COUNCIL - New Orleans, LA
REEFGUARDIAN INTERNATIONAL - Miami, FL
Staff
Cynthia Sarthou: Executive Director
RESTORE - Longville, LA
Amy Gill: Director of Operations
SIERRA CLUB, ALABAMA CHAPTER - Theodore, AL
Vicki Murillo: Director for Water
SIERRA CLUB, DELTA CHAPTER - Ponchatoula, LA
Resources
SIERRA CLUB, FLORIDA CHAPTER - St. Petersburg, FL
Briana Kerstein: Outreach Coordinator
SIERRA CLUB, MISSISSIPPI CHAPTER - Jackson, MS
Aaron Viles: Fisheries Campaign
SIERRA CLUB NATIONAL - San Francisco, CA
Director
TAMPA AUDUBON SOCIETY - Tampa, FL
Marianne Cufone: Fisheries
TURTLE COVE RESEARCH STATION - Hammond, LA
Consultant
U.S. PIRG, GULF STATES FIELD OFFICE - New Orleans, LA
WETLANDS WATCH - Pass Christian, MS

Page 6 DECEMBER 2004

 Network Notebook: New Literature and Reports
Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. (Cambridge University Press, 2004).
This report investigates the impacts of climate change on the Arctic and explores the global implications.
Some of the issues, such as sea level rise, could directly impact the Gulf’s fragile coastal areas. The report
can be downloaded from http://amap.no/acia/
The following are new documents available from the National Service Center for Environmental
Publications. They are available by mail at U.S. EPA/NSCEP, P.O. Box 42419, Cincinnati, OH 45242;
by phone at 1-800-490-9198; or online at http://www.epa.gov/ncepihom/index.htm:
• Cherish Wetlands {Magnet} (EPA#843E03006)
• Fact Sheet: Constructed Treatment Wetlands (EPA#843F0313)
• Fact Sheet: Wetlands and West Nile Virus (EPA# 843F04010)
• Technical Components of State and Tribal Bioassessment Programs (EPA# 822F03009)
• Thirstin’s Drinking Water Games and Activities {K-12} {CD ROM} (EPA #816C04008)
• Water on Tap: What You Need to Know {CD ROM} (EPA# 816C04006)

GRN Action Alert list:

To stay updated on upcoming regional events, critical actions on Capitol Hill, and opportunities for public
comment, join the GRN listserv by e-mailing GRNactionalert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visiting
groups.yahoo.com.

Calendar of Events
DECEMBER 2004 13-16 20th Annual Everglades Coalition
Conference. Everglades Land and
6-7 Congress on Building Capacity for Coastal Water: Preserve Now to Restore Forever.
Solutions. Hosted by the Renewable Natural Naples, Florida. For more info, call
Resources Foundation. American 954-942-3113.
Geophysical Union headquarters,
Washington, DC. For more info, contact 25 Seventh Biennial State of the Bay Sympo-
Ryan Colker at 301-493-9101 or go to sium. Downtown Aquarium, Houston, TX.
http://www.rnrf.org/2004cong. For more info, visit
http://www.gbep.state.tx.us/news-
6-10 First National Conference on Ecosystem events/symposium.asp.
Restoration. Wyndham Palace, Orlando, FL.
Visit http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/ecosystem/ FEBRUARY 2005
for more information.
12-15 Clean Water Week. Hosted by the Clean
13-17 SEDAR (Southeast Data, Assessment and Water Network in Washington, DC. For
Review) Meeting on Red Snapper. Miami, more info, contact Josh Klein at 202-289-
FL. Contact: gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org. 2421, or jklein@nrdc.org.

JANUARY 2005 MARCH 2005

7-10 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
10-13 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Council Meeting. Wynfrey Hotel,
Council Meeting. Sheraton, Baton Rouge,
Birmingham, AL. Contact:
LA. Contact: gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org.
gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org.
Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 7
United for a Healthy Gulf

P.O. Box 2245

New Orleans, LA 70176
Phone: (504) 525-1528
Fax: (504) 525-0833
Website: www.gulfrestorationnetwork.org

The GRN would like to thank the following foundations for

making this newsletter, as well as the work of the GRN,
possible: The Belvedere Fund, The Ben and Jerry’s
Foundation, The Booth-Bricker Foundation, The Charles
Stewart Mott Foundation, The Elizabeth Ordway Dunn
Foundation, The Greater New Orleans Foundation, The Joe
W & Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation, The McKnight
Foundation, the Regional Marine Conservation Project, and
The RosaMary Foundation.

PARTICIPATE IN THE GRN FORUM AND 10TH

ANNIVERSARY PARTY!
A HEALTHY FUTURE FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO:
How we get there from here.
Saturday, December 4, 2004
2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
GRN 10th Anniversary Party immediately following Forum!
University of South Florida – St. Petersburg Campus
Florida Center for Teachers, Room 118
St. Petersburg, Florida
Dr. Frank Muller-Karger, who serves on the U.S. Learn how you can join our fight for a healthy
Commission on Ocean Policy, will be our keynote gulf! Breakout sessions will highlight important
speaker. He will discuss the release of the issues of water quality, the Louisiana coastal crisis,
commission's final report, "An Ocean Blueprint for the GRN "Every Fish Counts" campaign, and the
the 21st Century," which highlights the problems push to reform the fisheries management councils.
plaguing our oceans and the specific solutions that Help the GRN celebrate our 10th anniversary of
must be adopted. Dr. Muller-Karger is a biological working to protect and preserve the Gulf of
oceanographer and professor at the College of Mexico. Return the enclosed registration form
Marine Science, University of South Florida, where and join us to celebrate our greatest successes and
he directs the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing. our continued efforts toward a healthy gulf.