Congress: Protect Our Ocean Monitoring Before Trump Dismantles That, Too

Protect the Ocean Observatories Initiative from further dismantling — and then secure stable, multiyear funding to keep our monitoring systems operating. This reckless administration proposed cutting OOI funding 80% from roughly $39 million to $8 million — a four-fifths gutting — as part of broader NSF budget cuts. At that level, NSF moved to remove in-water infrastructure from four of OOI’s five observing arrays, including the Endurance Array off Washington and Oregon and Station Papa in the Gulf of Alaska. The planned removals also affected the Pioneer Array off the East Coast and the Irminger Sea Array in the North Atlantic. Following bipartisan pressure, NSF paused further removals and said it would continue operations and planned maintenance. But that eleventh-hour temporary pause does not create a durable funding commitment or prevent future reductions. OOI provides long-term, open ocean data used by scientists, forecasters, emergency managers, coastal communities, tribes, fisheries, and public agencies. Its Pacific arrays monitor conditions that inform understanding of ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, seismic and volcanic processes, and coastal hazards. The Regional Cabled Array off Washington and Oregon remains in operation, but a reliable observing system requires sustained investment in the broader network and the people who operate it. Congress must act to: • Reject any budget proposal that would cut OOI funding or force the removal of operating ocean-observing infrastructure. • Provide stable, multiyear funding for OOI, including the Endurance Array, Station Papa, and the Regional Cabled Array serving the Pacific Northwest. • Require NSF to notify Congress and the public before removing federally funded observing equipment, ending public data streams, or materially reducing operations. • Protect the specialized workforce, maintenance capacity, and long-term public datasets that make these systems so crucially useful. Americans should not have to rely on temporary reversals to protect our investments in public scientific infrastructure and operations. Republicans should pay particular attention to our collective outrage, not to Trump’s destructive whims. Please ensure that OOI remains funded, maintained, and accessible.