Task

On February 1, 2007, the FGBNMS Advisory Council set up several working groups. Each working group addresses one of the priority issues facing the sanctuary. In this WebQuest, you will be a part of one of the following official working groups:

• Impacts from Visitor Use

• Protection of Additional Habitat in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico

• Impacts from Fishing

• Enforcement of Regulations

• Education and Outreach

In reality, each working group includes members from one or more of the key stakeholder communities involved with the sanctuary. In this WebQuest, each person in your working group will represent a different stakeholder community.

In order to give good feedback to the FGBNMS staff members on your group's priority issue, you will first learn as much as you can about the issue. Then you will take a closer look at the issue from the perspective of your stakeholder community. Your goal is to help your working group develop three recommendations that will help the sanctuary better manage your group's priority issue. Your group will present the recommendations to the other working groups. Then, as a large group, you will select the best recommendation from each working group. You will submit these final recommendations directly to the FGBNMS.

FGBNMS Research Coordinator Emma Hickerson swims beneath a manta ray. Credit: Kaile Tsapis

Process

1. Explore the Management Plan Resources to learn about the FGBNMS and the management plan review process at the sanctuary.

2. Investigate the priority issue of your working group. Find out as much as you can about how the FGBNMS currently manages the issue. Use the Working Group Questions and Resources to help guide your research.

3. Each person in your working group should represent a different stakeholder community. Choose from the list below:
   

   • Oil and Gas Industry
   • Fishing (Commercial and Recreational)
   • Diving (Operators and Divers)
   • Research
   • Conservation

4. Research how your chosen stakeholder community is involved with the Gulf of Mexico region and the FGBNMS. Use the Stakeholder Resources to help guide your research.

5. Think about your working group's priority issue from the perspective of your chosen stakeholder community. Develop three to five recommendations that you think would improve how the FGBNMS manages your group's priority issue. Each recommendation should be from the perspective of your stakeholder community.

6. Choose your top three recommendations. Write a three-word description, a one-sentence description, and a one-paragraph description for each recommendation. Also create an illustration and put together a bibliography of the sources that you used to research each recommendation. Use a copy of the Recommendation Form to organize each of your recommendations, and follow the Individual Recommendations Rubric to make sure that each form is clear and complete.

7. After each person in your working group has completed step 6, meet as a group to discuss all of the recommendations. As a working group, select the top three recommendations that you think would improve how the FGBNMS manages your group's priority issue. Your group will present these three recommendations to the rest of the working groups.

8. Plan a 5-10 minute group presentation that introduces your group's priority issue and summarizes the three recommendations that you have chosen to present. Each group member should plan to give part of the presentation. Include at least one visual aid to support your presentation. Follow the Group Presentation Rubric to make sure that your group's presentation is as successful as possible.

9. Give your presentation and pay close attention to the presentations of the other working groups.

10. Ask questions of the other working groups to learn more about their recommendations. Then use the Ballot Form to vote for the strongest recommendation from each working group. Use the "Explanation" line to explain the reasoning behind each of your votes.

11. Include the top-vote-getting recommendation from each working group in a final report, and submit the report to the FGBNMS (see Conclusion for the sanctuary's contact information).

12. Thank you for participating in the FGBNMS management plan review process!