Stamford, CT (March 23) – The Long Island Sound Study today launched a new design for its website that will make it easier to communicate the efforts of the federal, state, and local partners to restore and protect Long Island Sound, an estuary of national significance. Estuaries, waterbodies where saltwater from the ocean mixes with fresh water from rivers draining from the land, are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.
With the new design, the website has been reorganized to better display the actions that are taking place to achieve goals under the four themes of the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan: Clean Waters and Healthy Watersheds, Thriving Habitats and Abundant Wildlife, Sustainable and Resilient Communities, and Sound Science and Inclusive Management. New features include project Spotlights, a blog on personal stories about Long Island Sound, and descriptions of projects being implemented through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant program. There also are story maps on the Long Island Sound Study’s priority habitats and water quality monitoring, articles on the use of the harvesting of seaweed and shellfish to improve water quality, and a slide show and video of Long Island Sound’s Seafloor Mapping program.
The new design also will make it easier to view existing features such as the Long Island Sound Study Ecosystem Targets and Supporting Indicators, the Long Island Sound Study Stewardship Area Atlas, and slide shows on what makes Long Island Sound special.
The website, www.longislandsoundstudy.net, was redesigned by Taylor Design, a Stamford-based marketing company specializing in graphic and web design solutions. Taylor Design also worked on the last major redesign of the website in 2010, which won several design awards. The new design takes advantage of modern features that will make it easier to read and navigate web pages, to view higher resolution images and video, and to adapt to screens from mobile phones to large-screen monitors. The website also uses the latest content management software to make it easier for Long Island Sound Study’s staff to update information on the site.
In the 1980s there was widespread concern about water quality conditions in Long Island Sound, including the lack of sufficient oxygen for the Sound’s marine life. To fully restore the health of the Sound, it was decided that a cooperative effort focusing on the overall ecosystem was needed. As a result, EPA, New York, and Connecticut formed the Long Island Sound Study in 1985, a bi-state partnership consisting of federal and state agencies, user groups, concerned organizations, and individuals dedicated to restoring and protecting the Sound. In 1994, the LISS developed a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan to protect and restore Long Island Sound. This plan was updated in 2015 with ambitious targets to drive further progress through 2035.