Coastal America is an innovative, collaborative problem solving partnership established to coordinat the restoration, preservation, anmd education activities of federal agencies with program responsibilities that are either located in, or impact the coastal environment. In 1991, several Assistant Secretaries of agencies experiencing difficulty coordinating interdepartmental activities in coastal areas urged the establishment of a partnership entity. They saw the need for a more collaborative and comprehensive coordination process to bring together diverse federal viewpoints and address complex coastal environmental issues. The operating principles for partnership development were subsequently negotiated. The future partners agreed that any joint undertakings should not interfere or disrupt individual agencies' authorities, but should identify areas of potential overlap in which the agencies could achieve common objectives. They endorsed the concept of an action oriented entity, focused on issues of national significance implemented at a local level. Under this rubric, the agencies agreed that all projects should be cost-shared by the partners and the process should demonstrate a "value added" as a result of the collaboration. These concepts have grown significantly and, with their growth, the participants in the Coastal America Partnership have learned a number of important lessons, that are highlighted in this report.

A. PARTNERSHIP HISTORY

DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA
FUNDING DEVELOPMENT
THE FIRST MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

B. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

NATIONAL LEVEL
REGIONAL LEVELS

C. REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION TEAM STRATEGIES

NORTHEAST REGION
SOUTHEAST REGION
GULF OF MEXICO REGION
SOUTHWEST REGION
NORTHWEST REGION
ALASKA REGION
GREAT LAKES REGION

D. CONCLUSIONS AND THE VALUE ADDED OF COASTAL AMERICA

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Go to Section II: Project Lessons Learned