Audubon Champions Coastal Resilience Bills during National Estuaries Week

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Last week, a bipartisan group of Congress members, led by Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Mike Haridopolos (R-FL), introduced a resolution dedicating this week as National Estuaries Week. While this week has long been celebrated each September by federal and nonprofit partners, the resolution officially recognizes estuaries as critical habitats and ecosystems for birds, fish, and other endangered and protected wildlife.

Estuaries are the meeting point between rivers, streams, and the ocean—where salty and fresh water meet in bays, sounds, and other important coastal areas. They are one of the most productive environments on the planet and support vibrant communities of wildlife while also protecting our coasts from dangerous waves, storms, and erosion. Estuaries also provide vital habitat for sea- and shorebirds, like oystercatchers, pelicans, and Ospreys, as well as migratory birds in need of stopovers on their journeys, like Least Terns.

As Audubon celebrates National Estuaries Week and attends the 2026 Restore America Estuaries Conference in in San Francisco, where our Audubon California office presented on nature-based shoreline projects in Northern San Francisco Bay, we also want to highlight Audubon’s support of important legislation designed to protect estuaries and coastal habitats.

The ESTUARIES Act

• The Enhancing Scientific, Treatment, and Upkeep of America’s Resilient and Important Estuarine Systems Act, which passed the House of Representatives late last year, is included in the current Senate version of the Water Resources Development Act as that moves forward this fall. This language reauthorizes the crucial National Estuary Program (NEP), administered by the Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with states, tribes, and local governments, to manage and improve habitat and water quality in designated estuaries all along our coasts. The NEP facilitates and implements Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans, based on local priorities, which have successfully preserved and restored estuarine habitats, improved community flood resilience, contributed to important economic industries, like commercial and recreational fishing, and improved water quality across our coastlines. This version would also add the Mississippi Sound Estuary Program to the group of federal NEPs—a huge win for that region as it would provide federal support to the people and wildlife, including birds like Plovers and Great Blue Herons who call coastal Mississippi home. Tell your Senators to support this bill!

The Resilient Coasts and Estuaries Act

• This bill reauthorizes critical components of the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Programs (CELP) and National Estuarine Research Reserves System (NERRS). The CELP allows states and local communities to acquire, restore, and conserve coastal areas, protecting vital habitats for sea- and shorebirds, as well as migratory birds who utilize these areas as stopovers on their journeys, and numerous fish and other wildlife species. The NERRS is a network of coastal research sites designated by NOAA to study estuarine ecosystems in conjunction with local communities. Reauthorization of these programs is long overdue, and coastal communities and habitats across the nation would benefit immensely from dedicated annual federal funding and enhancement that reauthorization brings.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

• The Great Lakes form the largest fresh surface water system on Earth, providing habitat for millions of birds and drinking water for 40 million people. Since 2010, The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), has funded more than 8,000 projects across the Great Lakes region resulting in cleaner water, healthier habitats, and stronger, more resilient Great Lakes communities—including Audubon’s work with partners to restore and conserve more than 10,000 acres of coastal wetland habitat for vulnerable marsh birds like the Black Tern and Great Lakes Piping Plover. Audubon Great Lakes also utilizes the GLRI for restoration work – for example, working closely with the aforementioned NERRS program in the Allouez Bay Estuary in Wisconsin to ensure this Lake Superior wetland remains a thriving habitat for birds like rails and bitterns, in addition to other local fish and wildlife. While the program has continued to receive funding through appropriations, without Congressional action, the program will expire on September 30. Reauthorization of the program is needed to ensure that projects can continue across the region to improve water quality, restore wetlands, strengthen coastal resilience, and protect bird and wildlife habitat. The House included reauthorization of GLRI when it passed the American Water Stewardship Act; Audubon is urging the Senate to pass its GLRI reauthorization bill quickly to finish this work before the end of the Congress. To get involved, you can write to your Senators to support reauthorization!

Audubon is working to advance these bills, in addition to other coastal and waters bills, to make our coastlines more resilient for the birds and people that rely on them.