This Coastal America region extends from the southern tip of Florida north and westward along the Gulf of Mexico to the U.S. - Mexico border in Texas. Like the southeast region, the Gulf of Mexico region is part of a vast coastal plain of sedimentary deposits. Major features include the Mississippi and Atchafalaya deltas, where large amounts of land-derived sediments have been deposited in shallow coastal waters. These deltaic environments form a complex, interconnected web of estuarine channels and extensive coastal wetlands that are an important habitat for many recreational and commercial fisheries. In other areas, sediment transported and deposited by ocean currents formed offshore bars, enclosing shallow and sometimes extensive bodies of water. Such bar-built estuaries are common along the Texas shoreline.
The greatest amount of coastal wetlands of any region is found here, more than 16,600 square miles, most heavily concentrated in the Mississippi Delta region and southwestern Florida. Forested wetlands and fresh marshes are important along the Gulf coast of Florida; forested wetlands dominate from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi Sound. Salt marsh dominates in the western Gulf, from Mississippi Sound westward.
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most productive fishery areas in the world. Over three-quarters of its harvest is composed of species that are dependent on estuarine waters and coastal wetlands for some or all of their life cycle. For example, wetlands provide important habitat in the life cycle of penaeid shrimp and menhaden, the two most important commercial fishery resources in the Gulf, especially in the area of the Mississippi Delta. However, an estimated 25 square miles of these wetlands have been lost per year since the mid-1950's. This has resulted from a combination of rise in sea level, land subsidence, and human alterations such as channelization of estuaries, canal dredging through wetlands to accommodate oil and gas production, and impoundments. In addition, immense areas of wetlands have been drained to expand agricultural activity, particularly in the Mississippi Delta region and areas near the Florida Everglades.
The Gulf of Mexico RIT focuses on projects that embody the principles of sustainable development and ecosystem management to produce tangible benefits in support of Coastal America's goals. The Gulf of Mexico RIT favors projects that include a public education component and mechanisms for reporting and assessing project success.
Coastal America project proposals, including those generated by state agencies or NGOs, must have at least one federal sponsor strongly committed to securing project funding. In addition, a project proposal must include a written document from one or more non-federal sponsors affirming support and financial commitment to the project. If a project is being considered without non-federal sponsorship the proposal must include justification for consideration as a Coastal America project. Project proposals are formally submitted to the Gulf of Mexico RIT by the primary federal sponsor (lead agency) for endorsement. The Gulf of Mexico RIT reviews and assesses the eligibility of new project proposals as they are received, and approved projects are put on an Endorsed Projects List. In contrast to other RITs, endorsement by the Gulf of Mexico RIT must be unanimous. So as not to detract from a project's opportunity for funding, projects on the Endorsed Projects List are not prioritized or ranked, and there is no limit on the number of projects that may be on the list.
At least annually, the Endorsed Projects List and corresponding project descriptions are submitted to the Coastal America Office, which then transmits them to the appropriate federal agencies' national office directors for priority funding support. The primary federal agency and federal co-sponsors advocate funding through normal budgetary channels.
The Gulf of Mexico RIT bases its regionally significant environmental issues for project endorsement on the goals and objectives of six of the eight Technical Issue Committees (TIC) of the Gulf of Mexico Program. Thus, proposed project activities include: habitat degradation; coastal and shoreline erosion; pollution related to toxic substances and pesticides; nutrient enrichment; alterations to freshwater inflow; and declines in living aquatic resources.
Each of the five Gulf Coast states has its own unique array of environmental problems. Concurrently, each of the states also exhibits ecological systems and associated problems that are common to the others. No one problem topic or area has been identified that clearly overrides another, such that the Gulf of Mexico Program membership or Gulf of Mexico RIT can highlight it as a priority. This is reflected in the variety of projects included on the Endorsed Projects List. Coastal habitat restoration has been the primary emphasis of Gulf of Mexico RIT projects to date, ranging from shoreline protection of critical whooping crane habitat in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, and planting mangroves in a restoration effort at Cockroach Bay, Florida, to dune restoration at Shell Island, Florida. In addition, the RIT has supported innovative demonstration projects, such as using coal fly ash pellets to build an oyster reef in Galveston Bay, Texas, and building a salt marsh to denitrify pond water draining from a mariculture center at Gulf Shores, Alabama.