RAE tirelessly advocates for government funding and policies that will help to expand, support, and streamline estuary restoration activities nationwide.

Letters of Support
Throughout the year, RAE leads efforts and partners with like-minded organizations to send support letters to Congressional and agency officials on issues relating to coastal habitat restoration.  For copies of those letters, visit the funding letters page or policy letters page.

Current/Ongoing Initiatives
Presently, RAE is tracking the following pieces of legislation and Administration initiatives that would improve the health of the nation's estuaries.

• National Estuaries Day Resolution (S.Res. 281) - Passed into law on September 23, 2011!
  National Estuaries Day, celebrated on the last Saturday of every September, recognizes the importance of estuary habitats to America's coasts. The day is accompanied by a host of awareness-raising and volunteering activities. This resolution commits the Senate to supporting the ideals and goals of National Estuaries Day by acknowledging its importance and making the protection of coastal habitats a priority.
• Ocean Policy Task Force
  President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes on July 19, 2010. That Executive Order adopts the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and directs federal agencies to implement them.
• Climate Change Adaptation Task Force
  On June 2, 2011, the Council on Environmental Quality released a draft National Action Plan: Priorities for Managing Freshwater Resources in a Changing Climate to help Federal agencies assure adequate water supplies, safeguard water quality, and protect public health and property.  The draft Action Plan will be available for 45 days of public comment. Click here for more information on the task force's progress to date.
• Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration
  The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force was created by President Obama through an Executive Order on October 5, 2010, and is the result of a recommendation made in Secretary Mabus' report on long term recovery following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The Task Force is working to develop a restoration strategy that proposes a Gulf Coast ecosystem restoration agenda. Learn more about the Task Force.
• Chesapeake Bay Executive Order
  On May 12, 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order that recognizes the Chesapeake Bay as a national treasure and calls on the federal government to lead a renewed effort to restore and protect the nation’s largest estuary and its watershed. The 2011 Action Plan, required by the Executive Order, conveys the full scope of on-the-ground and in-the-water efforts the federal government will undertake.
• America's Great Outdoors Initiative
  In April, 2010, President Barack Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum establishing the America's Great Outdoors Initiative to promote and support innovative community-level efforts to conserve outdoor spaces and to reconnect Americans to the outdoors. Join the conversation and learn more at the America's Great Outdoors website.