U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

MMS Supports a Dedicated Issue of Science Journal
Gulf of Mexico Science Regarding
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

The Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico Region recently supported the production of a dedicated, special issue of the scientific journal Gulf of Mexico Science on the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.  The sanctuary, home of the most northern coral reefs in the Gulf, is located some 107 nautical miles off the southeastern Texas coast.  The research for seven of the eleven papers published in the special journal issue were funded by MMS as part of its scientific studies program.

The MMS, an agency of the Department of the Interior, has been working to safeguard the coral reefs of the Flower Garden Banks in the northwest Gulf of Mexico since 1973.  MMS protects the reefs and their ecosystems through a stipulated requirement in each of the oil and gas leases awarded for tracts in the vicinity.  That stipulation, known as the Topographic Features Stipulation, demands that oil and gas industry operators take certain precautionary measures and refrain from certain activities while they are working near the reefs.

MMS also conducts a long-term monitoring of the coral reefs in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program.  These programs, along with frequent, detailed inspections of offshore oil and gas production facilities, demonstrate MMS’s commitment to protecting the Flower Garden Banks, a concern that will last well into the future.

For more information about the Environmental Studies Program in general, contact the Environmental Sciences Section (MS 5430), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736-2789.

While they last, copies of this special issue of Gulf of Mexico Science are available free of charge from Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Public Information Office (MS 5034), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.  You may telephone requests to 1-800-200-GULF, or (504) 736-2519, or fax to (504) 736-2620.

The MMS is the Federal agency that manages the Nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the OCS; and collects, accounts for, and disburses about $4 billion in yearly revenues from offshore Federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and American Indian lands.

-MMS-GOM-

MMS's Website Address: http://www.mms.gov