Coastal Restoration Plan Advances over $74M in Restoration Projects

Media Statement of Restore the Mississippi River Delta

(New Orleans, LA.- July 29, 2022)  Today, the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group of the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees released its Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #8: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats. Earlier this year, over 160 representatives of business, government, environmental, community and other groups in Louisiana signed on to a letter in support of this plan.

In response, Restore the Mississippi River Delta – a coalition of national and local conservation groups working together to address Louisiana’s land loss crisis comprised of Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, Pontchartrain Conservancy and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana – released the following statement:

“This Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #8: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats represents a significant step forward in habitat restoration and coastal protection in Louisiana. This plan helps advance key projects in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ecosystem including the New Orleans East Landbridge and the Bayou La Loutre Ridge Restoration projects, both of which have garnered support from tens of thousands of people since Hurricane Katrina.

We are grateful to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group for their continued engagement with coastal stakeholders. These four projects will restore critically important areas for both ecosystem health and community protection.” 

Projects Advancing for Engineering and Design

New Orleans East Landbridge Restoration Project  (approximate cost: $4 million) 

Raccoon Island Barrier Island Restoration Project (approximate cost: $8.2 million)

Projects Advancing for Construction 

Bayou Dularge Ridge and Marsh Creation (approximate cost: $41.4 million) La Loutre Ridge Restoration and Marsh Creation (approximate cost: $21.2 million)

Media Contact:

Jacques Hebert, Environmental Defense Fund, 504.250.3699, jhebert@edf.org
Lauren Bourg, National Audubon Society, 225.776.9838, lauren.bourg@audubon.org
Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation, 504.442.2702, moorea@nwf.org
James Karst, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 504.220.7899, james.karst@crcl.org
Amanda Roberts, Pontchartrain Conservancy, 615.336.3439, amanda@gambelpr.com

Restore the Mississippi River Delta

Restore the Mississippi River Delta is working to secure a just, climate-resilient coast where people and nature thrive. As our region faces the crisis of land loss and climate change, we seek to advance an equitable, safer and flourishing coast for Louisiana’s communities, ecosystems and economy. Composed of conservation, policy, science and outreach experts from Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Pontchartrain Conservancy, we are located in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; and around the United States. Learn more at MississippiRiverDelta.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.