The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is pleased to announce a new partnership with CITGO as they become the most recent organization to join the Alliance’s Gulf Star Program. Funding from CITGO will support work in Galveston Bay, Texas, to improve conservation efforts for diamondback terrapins, a small species of turtle that lives in coastal marshes.
“As a local resident, I am proud of the work being done by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance in bringing private and public resources together to help protect the amazingly diverse wildlife and coastal habitats for a healthy Galveston Bay,” said Balvy Bhogal-Mitro, Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Planning at CITGO Petroleum Corporation.
The Gulf Star Program is a unique public-private partnership that leverages contributions from agencies and businesses without requiring match funds from grant recipients. All projects in the Gulf Star Program accomplish actions identified by the Alliance’s Priority Issue Teams and Cross-Team Initiatives in the Governors’ Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts. Led by the five Gulf states, these Teams focus on activities that benefit from a regional, collaborative approach to improve the environmental and economic health of the Gulf.
“Our success is built on collaborative partnerships that improve the environmental and economic health of the Gulf,” said Laura Bowie, executive director for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. “I am incredibly proud of the growing number of trusted stakeholders that work with us through our Gulf Star Program and we are excited to welcome CITGO as a partner.”
CITGO joins the following Gulf Star partners: Shell, Freeport McMoRan, Hess, Chevron, Clean Gulf Associates, Equinor, Motiva, Oxy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the five Gulf states.