#OurCoast: Growing Up on the Working Coast
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#OurCoast is an ongoing project by Restore the Mississippi River Delta to document the various ways the Mississippi River Delta has made an impact in the lives of Louisianians and others. “We depend upon our coast and our coast depends on us” –Governor John Bel Edwards This statement could not ring more true as a representation of my childhood and adolescent experiences that have streamlined my career path and shaped the person I am today. I grew up in Vermilion …
Delta Dispatches Podcast – New Orleans, A Coastal City
Welcome to another episode of Delta Dispatchers with hosts Simone Maloz & Jacques Hebert. On this episode of Delta Dispatches, Simone and Jacques speak to a couple of great guests about coastal restoration with Amanda Moore and Arthur Johnson. First, Simone speaks with Amanda Moore, Deputy Director of the National Wildlife Federation Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program, to talk with Simone about the restoration of the Gulf Coast. Then Arthur Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement …
#OurCoast: Faith, Science, and Sea Level Rise
#OurCoast is an ongoing project by Restore the Mississippi River Delta to document the various ways the Mississippi River Delta has made an impact in the lives of Louisianians and others. Sometimes, I find it really hard to be an earth scientist and live in New Orleans – and not just because we don’t have any local rocks to speak of. Rather, I find myself overwhelmed as my work can inundate me with new facts and projections about the vulnerability …
Delta Dispatches Podcast – Funding Coastal Restoration
Thanks for listening to the latest episode of Delta Dispatchers with hosts Simone Maloz & Jacques Hebert. This week’s episode is dedicated to just one thing: funding! Simone and Jacques will talk to their guests about the complex realities of funding coastal restoration in Louisiana. In the first half the show, Jacques will speak with Elizabeth Mabry, Senior Policy Manager, Ecosystems, Environmental Defense Fund to talk about the opportunities and challenges in securing funding in today’s political realities. On the second …
Collaborative Governance: How We Can All Guide the Future of Our Coast
Collaborative Governance. A concept that is exactly what it sounds like. The involvement of a diverse group of stakeholders, both public and private, that meet to inspire and attain a common agreement on public policy. Getting multiple stakeholder groups together to formulate a common understanding is imperative for the survival of coastal Louisiana and the Mississippi River Delta. With each passing hour, day and year, Louisiana’s coast disappears into the Gulf of Mexico. It isn’t just one landowner or community …
Delta Dispatches Podcast – Nonstructural Programs
Each week, Delta Dispatches, the weekly podcast from Restore the Mississippi River Delta, looks at one component of coastal restoration in Louisiana. This week, Jacquess Hebert and Simone Maloz talk about nonstructural components of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan. The term “nonstructural” originated because nonstructural storm protection is considered the alternative to traditional structural flood protection (i.e. levees). Structural measures control water and keep it out or away from an area, while nonstructural measures accommodate water and make buildings and …
Louisiana Faith Leaders Support Coastal Restoration
The following letter was recently signed by over 30 faith leaders and delivered to the The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in support of the 2017 Master Plan. Dear Members of the CPRA: The persons who have signed this letter are faith leaders, and we submit this comment on the 2017 Coastal Master Plan of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority because we are children of the One who created us and the planet on which we reside. God calls humans …
Getting Down to Basics: The Environmental Impact Statement Process for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion
As CPRA advances the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion and other priority projects toward construction, Restore the Mississippi River Delta staff experts will aim to give you updates on key steps of the process. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion aims to be “the first controlled sediment diversion reconnecting the Mississippi river with its delta,” Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) indicated in a recent press release, and, recently, there have been some important developments toward that end. In March, CPRA announced that …
Delta Dispatches Podcast – Wildlife
Each week, Delta Dispatches, the weekly podcast from Restore the Mississippi River Delta, looks at one component of coastal restoration in Louisiana. This week, Jacques Hebert has two guests to talk about how wildlife plays an integral role in restoration. From LSU, Jacques talks with Dr. Andy Nyman, a wetland wildlife scientist about how wildlife is in Louisiana is different than neighboring states. Later in the show, Dr. Eric Johnson from Audubon Louisiana is here to discuss the variety of bird species that depend …
New Poll Shows 88 Percent of Louisianians Support the 2017 Coastal Master Plan
Overwhelming majority want their state legislator to pass the plan, protect restoration funding (NEW ORLEANS—April 3, 2017) An overwhelming 88 percent of Louisiana voters want their legislators to vote for the 2017 Coastal Master Plan, according to a new statewide poll released today. The master plan is the state’s science-based blueprint for large-scale restoration and protection of Louisiana’s critical coastal areas. The draft plan will soon be finalized and is expected to be approved by the Coastal Protection and Restoration …
#OurCoast: From Disaster to Restoration
When I heard there had been an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, I knew it was going to be one of the most impactful events during my lifetime. In the spring of 2010, I was living in Florida, deep in the throes of graduate school and finals were looming. I knew that once I really started to pay attention to the news surrounding the spill, I was not going to be able to stop. So …
Delta Dispatches Podcast – Fisheries
Thanks for listening to the fourth episode of Delta Dispatchers with hosts Simone Maloz & Jacques Hebert. In this episode, Simone talks with Captain Ryan Lambert of Cajun Fishing Adventures to talk about coastal restoration. Later in the show, Dr. John Lopez, Director, Coastal Sustainability Program with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, joins the program to talk with Jacques about saving Louisiana’s fisheries. Below is a transcript of this week’s Delta Dispatches Podcast. Listen to the full recording here or …
New LSU Study Underscores Regional Economic Costs of Coastal Land Loss
Study also shows economic benefits of implementing state’s Coastal Master Plan (Baton Rouge – March 22, 2017) Louisiana could lose as much as $3.6 billion in homes, businesses and other infrastructure over the next 50 years if the state takes no action to curb its coastal land loss crisis, according to a new study released today by the Louisiana State University (LSU) Economics & Policy Research Group. The study, “Regional Impacts of Coastal Land Loss and Louisiana’s Opportunity for Growth,” …
Delta Dispatches Podcast – Sediment Diversions
Thanks for listening to the third episode of Delta Dispatchers with hosts Simone Maloz & Jacques Hebert. On today’s show Rudy Simoneaux and Brad Barth, from CPRA talk about sediment diversions and Rebecca Triche joins Simone to discuss the Louisiana Wildlife Federation and their upcoming event. Below is a transcript of this week’s Delta Dispatches Podcast. Listen to the full recording here or subscribe to our feed in iTunes and Google Play. Listen now! Show Transcript Jacques: Welcome …
Conservation Groups Insist Federal Agencies Act with Urgency on Key Restoration Project
New proposed timeline for Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion “completely unacceptable” (Baton Rouge – March 15, 2017) At this morning’s Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board meeting, Col. Michael Clancy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stated that the new target date for issuing a permit, in consultation with other federal agencies, on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is October 2022 – two years behind the schedule proposed by the state of Louisiana. In response, Restore the Mississippi River Delta – …