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Pelosi Urges Bay Area Groups to Apply for Ocean Education Funds She Helped Secure

January 5, 2006

Pelosi Urges Bay Area Groups to Apply for Ocean Education Funds She Helped Secure

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today urged San Francisco Bay Area organizations to apply for new marine education grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training Program (B-WET). Pelosi helped increase this initiative’s funding to make it available to San Francisco area residents.

â€Å"B-WET will teach our children environmental stewardship and how to protect our watersheds,” Pelosi said. â€Å"I am pleased this successful initiative can now expand to the San Francisco Bay Area.”

NOAA plans to distribute $700,000 in grants in San Francisco, Marin and Alameda Counties to educate students about area watersheds and two national marine sanctuaries in our area, Gulf of Farallones and Cordell Bank. Funding is available to K-12th grade public and independent schools and school systems, institutions of higher education, commercial and nonprofit organizations, state or local government agencies, and Indian tribal governments.

Application workshops will be offered:

  • January 17 at the Marin County Office of Education Board Room from 4-6 p.m.
  • January 24 at the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary offices, San Francisco Presidio Building 991, from 4-6 p.m.

For more information, contact Seaberry Nachbar at (831) 647-4204. Applications will be accepted until February 21. Application materials can be found online at the NOAA B-WET Web site: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/bwet/.

B-WET began in the Chesapeake Bay and previously expanded to Monterrey Bay and Hawaii. Pelosi’s request increased B-WET’s California funding from $500,000 in fiscal year 2005 to $2 million in the fiscal year 2006. B-WET will also expand to include Santa Barbara this year.