What Are Supporters Saying About Sediment Diversions?

04.22.2021 | In Community & Events

From local community members to regional leaders: The future of our coast is tied to the Mighty Mississippi River!

After decades of work, a major milestone for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is underway with the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Learn more about the project here | Show YOUR support for these critical projects to restore our coast

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Quotes from Coastal Leaders	Scientists for Diversions
Hunters & Anglers for Diversions	Louisiana is Pro-Sediment Diversion
See the River in Action	Mid-Barataria Supporter Profiles
Letters & Opinions

Quotes from Coastal Leaders

We’d love to share your voice! Interested? Contact info@mississippiriverdelta.org.

“The Coastal Master Plan estimates we could lose 2,250 square miles of the coast in the next 50 years–that’s in addition to the nearly 1,900 square miles we have lost since 1932. This problem isn’t going away. If you think it’s bad now, just wait.”

– Denise Reed, PHD
Nationally and internationally recognized expert in coastal marsh sustainability

“We have no time to lose. Our home, our food and our very way of life depend on a healthy and thriving coast. This is our moment to turn the tide on land loss and protect our communities, our culture, and the bounty of our wetlands.”

– Isaac Toups
Three-time James Beard Best Chef of the South Finalist, Top Chef finalist and restaurateur

“Using the Mississippi River is our best bet to save the coast. This is the way Mother Nature intended it to be before we built levees. Using the river to deliver freshwater and sediment into the estuary will create habitat for all species of fish, crab, shrimp and waterfowl and give us lines of defense from storm surge, which is so important to keep living in south Louisiana.”

– Captain Ryan Lambert
World-class charter fishing captain and business owner

“Losing our coast will impact how we live and where we live. Our economy, education, housing, food and recreation are all under siege without innovative projects like the Mid-Baratria Sediment Diversion to help protect our heritage, our culture and our future!”

– Arthur Johnson
CEO, Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, community-based nonprofit leader

Scientists for Diversions

A group of more than 55 natural and physical scientists, engineers and social scientists with a combined 1,300 years of research and technical experience related to Louisiana’s coast have co-authored and signed a letter voicing support based on their scientific knowledge and expertise for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the single largest ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history. The group’s collective interdisciplinary work has informed the state’s efforts on the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan and other coastal restoration and protection efforts.

Read the full letter.

Alexander S. Kolker Associate Professor, Coastal Geologist	Donald Boesch Professor Emeritus, Marine and Environmental Science	Ehab Meselhe, Professor Water Resources Engineer, Tulane University
John Day Professor Emeritus, Coastal Scientist, Louisiana State University	Sam Bentley, Professor Geology, Louisiana State University	Kim de Mutsert Assistant Professor, Fish Ecology, University of Southern Mississippi
Caz Taylor Associate Professor, Ecologist, Tulane University	Gary Shaffer Professor, Wetland Restoration, Southeastern Louisiana University	Donald Baltz Professor Emeritus, Fish Ecology, Louisiana State University (Retired)
Victor H. Rivera-Monroy Associate Professor, Wetland Ecology	Thomas C. Michot Research Scientist, University of Louisiana (Retired)	Torbjörn Törnqvist Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University
G. Paul Kemp Adjunct Research Professor, Coastal Oceanography and Geology, Louisiana State University	Kehui Xu Associate Professor,Sediment Transport and Coastal Processes, Louisiana State University	Thomas W. Sherry Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University
J. V. Remsen Emeritus Professor of Natural Science and Curator of Birds, Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University	Jennifer O. Coulson Adjunct Faculty, Ornithologist, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,Tulane University	Gary Peterson Research Associate, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University(Retired)
David A. White Wetlands Ecologist,Loyola University New Orleans (retired)	Davin Wallace Associate Professor, Marine Geology, School of Ocean Science & Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi	James Morris Distinguished Professor Emeritus,College of Arts and Sciences,University of South Carolina
Clint Willson Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University	Harry Roberts Boyd Professor Emeritus, Coastal-Marine Geology, Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University (Retired)	Matthew Hiatt Assistant Professor, Coastal Hydrology, Louisiana State University
Loretta L. Battaglia Associate Professor, Wetland Ecology, Southern Illinois University	Allyse Ferrara Professor of Biological Sciences, Fisheries	Jorge A. Villa Assistant Professor, Environmental Sciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Richard Keim Professor of Forest and Wetland Ecohydrology, Louisiana State University	Brian Roberts Associate Director of Science, Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry	Zoe Hughes Research Assistant Professor, Coastal Geomorphology, Boston University
Piers Chapman Research Professor, Marine Science, Texas A&M University	Denise Reed Research Professor Gratis, Coastal Geomorphologist, University of New Orleans	James Nelson Assistant Professor, Ecosystems Ecology, University of Louisiana Lafayette
Steven Lohrenz Professor, Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth	Andrew Baldwin Professor of Wetland Ecology	John T. Wells Dean and Director, Deltaic Processes, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Peter Goodwin President and Professor, River Morphology and Tidal Wetlands	John M. Barry Distinguished Scholar, Tulane University School of Public health and Tropical Medicine	Donata Henry Senior Professor of Practice, Ecology, Tulane University
Sunshine Van Bael Associate Professor, Wetland Ecology, Tulane University	Stephen Formel Microbial Ecologist, Tulane University	Henry Bart Director of Biodiversity, Ecology and Systematics of Freshwater Fishes and Amphibians
William J. Platt Disturbance ecology of coastal ecosystems, Louisiana State University (retired)	Nan Walker Professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and Coastal Studies Institute	Tracy Quirk Associate Professor, Wetland Ecologist, Louisiana State University
Elizabeth Kimbrough Ecologist , Microbial Ecology	Emily Farrer Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University	John Lopez Delta Science LLC
Robert A. Thomas Professor, Coastal Educator, Loyola University New Orleans	Peter H. Yaukey Chair of Department of Biological and Physical Sciences and Professor of Biology, University of Holy Cross	Don Hauber Biology Department Chair and Provost Distinguished Professor II, Loyola University New Orleans
Paul Barnes Professor and J.H. Mullahy Chair in Environmenal Biology, Plant Ecology and Global Change Biology, Loyola University New Orleans	Frank Jordan Professor of Biological Sciences, Loyola University New Orleans	Robert Moreau Manager of Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station, Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, Southeastern Louisiana University
Edward B Overton Environmental Chemist, Department of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University (retired)

Hunters & Anglers for Diversions

Sportsmen & women know the river is essential to healthy and diverse wildlife habitat.

The undersigned sportsmen, sporting businesses and organizations would like to thank you for your support of coastal restoration. We are writing today in support of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. This game-changing restoration project is the single largest ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history, and implementation will ensure future generations of hunters and anglers can enjoy the bounty our Louisiana coastal wetlands have traditionally offered.

Read the full letter.

Warren Coco Go-Devil Manufacturers of Louisiana	Ryan Lambert Cajun Fishing Adventures	Jim Ronquest Rich-N-Tone Calls
Mike Benge Delacroix Corporation	David Muth National Wildlife Federation	Steve Bowman Bass Anglers Sportsman Society
Wes Higgins Bill Lewis Lures	Allen Hughes Banded Holdings, Inc.	Chris Macaluso Theodore Roosevelt Conservations Partnership
Bryan Brasher BASS Times Magazine	Marissa Turner The Outdoor Cooking Show	Erik Guggenheim Delta Structural Technology, LLC
Mike Mcnett USAngling Confederation	Jimmy Babin Creative Cajun Cooking	Erin Brown and Bill Cooksey Vanishing Paradise
Eric Cosby Top Brass Tackle	Travis Thompson Cast & Blast Florida	Mike McNett US Ice Team

Louisiana is Pro-Sediment Diversion

According to a 2019 poll of likely Louisiana voters, 82% of respondents support sediment diversion projects to build and maintain coastal wetlands over time and 96% believe it is important that Louisiana’s elected officials make decisions based on the best available science.

See the River in Action

See how the river is building and restoring marsh across the delta in these new short videos. Are you interested in taking a field trip to the marsh? Let us know at info@mississippiriverdelta.org.

Leading Scientist in the Wax Lake Delta
Sportsman leader on his successful Plaquemines Parish project

Mid-Barataria Supporter Profiles

"It is human intervention which is preventing sediment from rebuilding the coast, and human intervention which could make a significant step toward healing and restoring the coast." – Rev. Ellen Blue, PH.D., Biggs Professor Emerita, Phillips Theological Seminary Clergy, Louisiana United Methodist Chrurch
"I'm a duck hunter and fisherman. I've owned Go-Devil Manufacturing for 43 years and I've been a landowner and land manager for 23 years. My property includes 1,600 acres of coastal wetlands with a conservation easement and wetland restoration project. I feel the Mid-Barataria project is a must-have and many more behind it!" – Warren Coco, Owner and Founder of GO-DEVIL Manufacturing, Life-Long Louisiana Resident
"To do nothing is to abdicate the future of generations who would succeed us. Flying up in the air reveals that we don't have as much time as we thought." – The Rev. Fred Devall, Priest of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana
"If we don't act now, bass like this will not be around for our future generations to enjoy! Support Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion and stop the Gulf of Mexico from destroying our beautiful and protective marsh!" – Jake Impastato, Owner of 392 Baitz bait company, Louisiana native, fisherman & conservationist
"Sediment is the lifeblood of Louisiana. It is what built the landscape...and it is the only thing that will actually sustain the coastal wetlands needed to protect communities over the long term." – Alisha Renfro, Senior Manager for coastal sciency policy with the National Wildlife Federation

Letters & Opinions

Landowners, non-profit leaders and more share their voice in support of Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion! Do you want to write a letter? We can help! Contact info@mississippiriverdelta.org.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell: We have to use the river sediments to protect our coastline
Chip Kline: Coastal chief: Louisiana needs big diversion projects to restore wetlands
Ted Falgout: Guest column: River diversion important to Louisiana coast
Gay Lebreton and Brandon Nelson: Guest column: Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion will build land, and economy
Kimberly Davis Reyher and Kristi Trail: Guest column: Many ways to help the coast, but sediment diversion is a big and important way
Mark Davis, Director, Tulane Center for Environmental Law: More than past time to move with Mid-Barataria diversion
Steve Cochran: The Mississippi River is our strongest asset to hold onto our Coast, but we must use it
Charles Allen: Louisiana’s shrinking wetlands puts communities and cultures at risk

Delta Dispatches