Federal laboratories in the Gulf States received $888 million in federal R&D funds in FY 1997. The labs were the second largest recipients of federal funds and account for 32 percent of the region's allocation. In total, this accounted for 5.3 percent of the total federal funding for government laboratories. Alabama received the most with $661 million, Mississippi was second with $176 million, and Louisiana received $50 million (see Table 1).

Even with a relatively modest share of federal R&D funds, the Gulf States have some prominent federal laboratories within their borders. Alabama is home to the Redstone Arsenal and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. Redstone is the cornerstone of the U.S. Army's missile and rocket R&D program and Marshall houses NASA's space transportation and propulsion, microgravity, and space optics manufacturing R&D programs.

Louisiana also has two prominent labs, the USDA's Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) and the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC). SRRC is one of four USDA regional centers that specialize in agriculture R&D for their specific region. NWRC is the prime research facility for the nation's wetlands.

Not to be outdone, Mississippi also boasts two important research facilities: the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station which is the largest engineering R&D complex of its kind in the United States, and the John C. Stennis Space Center. Stennis is NASA's lead institution for testing large rocket engines and propulsion systems.