History Edit
Seal of the NOAA Commissioned Corps
NOAA was formed on October 3, 1970, after Richard Nixon proposed creating a new agency to serve a national need "… for better protection of life and property from natural hazards … for a better understanding of the total environment … [and] for exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources ..." NOAA formed a conglomeration of several existing agencies that were among the oldest in the federal government. They were the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, formed in 1807; the Weather Bureau, formed in 1870—Geodetic Survey and Weather Service had been combined by a 1965 consolidation into the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA); and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, formed in 1871. NOAA was established within the Department of Commerce via the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970.[7] In 2007 NOAA celebrated 200 years of service with its ties to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.