Nobody said it would be easy. Thank you for stepping up for our ocean!

More than a year ago, we brought you some frightening news. The Trump administration had proposed a shocking $1 billion cut to NOAA, our nation’s premier ocean agency.

After that awful news broke, a remarkable thing happened. From all corners of the country, people that depend on and love our ocean started sharing their stories.  You signed a massive letter calling on Congress to reject harmful cuts to NOAA, bringing together everyone from scientists and ocean experts to local volunteers. You called your Representatives and Senators. You sent them emails and you visited their offices around the nation and in Washington, DC. And we began to see progress, especially in the U.S. Senate, who four months later proposed funding NOAA at much more reasonable levels.

The news media heard you as well, publishing articles from Maine to Florida to Alaska about the threat the proposed NOAA cuts posed to coastal communities and the ocean economy.

This week, we see the results of these efforts. Congress has delivered a final federal budget for this fiscal year that completely rejects harmful cuts to NOAA and replaces them with smart investments in our ocean we all depend on. Programs receiving robust funding include ocean acidification research that is providing tangible benefits to business owners, programs that support marine mammal first responders helping wildlife along our coasts, and the ocean navigation and observation work that protects mariners and out environment.

So thank you to everyone who called and emailed their elected officials, everyone who shared a story about how NOAA helps their job or their community, and especially to every Member of Congress who saw the threat of drastic cuts to NOAA and simply said “no way.”

It worked! We couldn’t have done it without you and we are ready to work with you to hold onto these important investments. Congress funds the government every year for just a single year. So this accomplishment is sweet, but short-lived, and the fight has already started ensure that we repeat this important accomplishment again next year.

But for now, our ocean thanks you, and so do we!