Press Releases

CONTACT:
Cheva Heck
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
(305) 292-0311, Ext. 26
(305) 304-0179 (cell)

NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has completed a long awaited move into new offices at the Dr. Nancy Foster Florida Keys Environmental Complex at Truman Annex in Key West.

Named for Dr. Nancy Foster, former assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service, the three-acre complex includes the headquarters office, as well as lower region operations office and maintenance building. Constructed on property acquired from the U.S. Navy in 1999, the complex also houses the docks for lower region vessels and will feature the Florida Keys EcoDiscovery Center, a state of the art visitor center scheduled for completion in September.

Among other environmentally friendly features, the operations office features a “green roof,” constructed of sod to improve the quality of water runoff, and uses cistern water to flush toilets. NOAA intends to pursue a leadership in energy and environmental design certification through the United States Green Building Council for the facility. The architects for the project are Guidry Beazley and Associates of Lafayette, La. and Eskew +Dumez+ Ripple of New Orleans, La., the same firms that designed the new National Weather Service office on White Street in Key West. 

The address for the Dr. Nancy Foster Florida Keys Environmental Complex is 33 East Quay Road, Key West, FL 33040. The phone and fax numbers for the Lower Region office remain the same: phone (305) 292-0311 and fax (305) 292-5065. The phone and fax numbers for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary headquarters will be (305) 809-4700 (phone) and (305) 809-5009 (fax).

The sanctuary will continue to operate a small office in Marathon. The mailing address will remain P.0. Box 500368, Marathon, FL 33050. The delivery address will change to 11399 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050. The phone and fax numbers remain the same: phone (305) 743-2437 and fax (305) 743-2357.

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary protects 2,896 square nautical miles of critical marine habitat, including coral reef, hard bottom, seagrass meadows, mangrove communities and sand flats. The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary program and the state of Florida manage the sanctuary.

The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program seeks to increase the public awareness of America’s marine resources and maritime heritage by conducting scientific research, monitoring, exploration and educational programs. Today, the sanctuary program manages 13 national marine sanctuaries and one marine national monument that together encompass more than 150,000 square miles of America’s ocean and Great Lakes natural and cultural resources.

In 2007 NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. Starting with the establishment of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. The agency is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and more than 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the Web:
NOAA - http://www.noaa.gov
National Ocean Service - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov
National Marine Sanctuary Program - http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary - http://floridakeys.noaa.gov