Delta Dispatches: Looking Ahead to 2021
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This week on Delta Dispatches, we sit down with one of our favorite guests, Bren Haase, Executive Director for the Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority. The CPRA is releasing their draft Annual Plan, which outlines the coastal projects moving forward in the next 12 months and Bren walks us through many of the big projects that will make 2021 a great year for coastal Louisiana. Listen Now:
Soaring Above Louisiana’s Coast Shows How We Can Restore It
Ben Depp is a New Orleans-based landscape photographer and National Geographic Society Explorer. He has photographed many parts of Louisiana’s coast, capturing with amazing detail the beautiful and haunting details of our disappearing swamps, marshes and barrier islands. Last year, Ben was featured in the nationally-distributed documentary series “Last Call for the Bayou” in the episode, “On a Wing and a Prayer,” which detailed the urgency of the state’s land loss crisis and his unique process for documenting it. I …
Delta Dispatches: Cook-off for the Coast & Friends of Bayou Lafourche
On today’s episode, Simone and Jacques welcome back National Wildlife Federation Outreach Manager Samantha Carter to discuss the fourth annual Cook-off for the Coast. Although this year’s cook-off will be virtual, Sam highlights how it will still feature great content, including music from the Michot’s Melody Makers with special guest Leyla McCalla, a virtual coastal flyover, cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs, as well as a recipe and artwork contest. On the second half of the show, Friends of Bayou Lafourche Executive Director Ryan …
Without the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the Future for Louisiana’s Barataria Basin is Bleak
Louisiana’s land loss crisis is dire and will significantly worsen without investments in large-scale coastal restoration and protection projects. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands. Without action, the state could lose double that amount — an additional 4,000 square miles of land – in the next 50 years. This future scenario, commonly referred to as Future Without Action (FWOA), underscores why Louisiana has literally no time to lose in constructing coastal projects that can …
Delta Deispatches: What is an Environmental Impact Statement?
This episode of Delta Dispatches features environmental law experts providing an overview of the legal and regulatory backdrop upon which Louisiana is executing its coastal restoration and protection efforts. Amy Reed, Staff Attorney, and Jarryd Page, Public Interest Law Fellow, both from the Environmental Law Institute, join Simone and Jacques to discuss the forthcoming draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Mid Barataria Sediment Diversion. They also discuss the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other important laws guiding the implementation …
Sweeping Water Bill Advances Coastal Louisiana Restoration
The Water Resources Development Act: critically important legislation for Louisiana’s coast that you’ve probably never heard of By Charlotte Runzel, Policy Analyst, National Audubon Society Coastal Louisiana is facing a land loss crisis. Over thousands of years, the Mississippi River brought fresh water and sediment and built the Mississippi River Delta. Due to human alterations, stopping the transfer of these two important resources, Louisiana has lost over 1,900 square miles of land in 90 years. Far from Louisiana, lawmakers in …
This Restored Ridge Will Provide Hurricane Protection for Terrebonne Parish
To restore Louisiana’s coast, we need a suite of large-scale restoration projects across the coast working together to deliver maximum benefits to reduce land loss, restore ecosystems, and maintain healthy and diverse habitat. In our “Restoration Project Highlights” series, we take a deeper look at specific projects from our list of Priority Projects, highlighting why they’re needed and hearing local perspectives on importance. What is the project? The Terrebonne Basin has lost nearly half of its land area in the last …
Delta Dispatches: Coastal Happenings in St. Bernard Parish
On today’s show, Jacques checks in with Blaise Pezold, Coastal and Environmental Program Manager at The Meraux Foundation, who provides updates on a number of exciting programs the foundation is carrying out in St. Bernard Parish, from a new citrus research facility to ongoing coastal education and volunteer initiatives. Freelance journalist Sara Sneath then joins to discuss her recent reporting and highlight a unique way to tour St. Bernard Parish and the rest of our coastal communities — on your …
Delta Dispatches: A National Estuarine Research Reserve for Louisiana’s Coast
Welcome back to Delta Dispatches as Simone and Jacques kick-off 2021 with a favorite guest, Dr. Robert Twilley, who updates the duo on the exciting development of Louisiana being considered for a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). Louisiana is one of the few coastal states that doesn’t currently have a NERR. Dr. Twilley discusses what value a NERR would bring to a state and how having one would allow Louisiana’s coast to have greater attention at the national level. Simone …
CWPPRA Provides Lessons for Applying Adaptive Management Across Louisiana’s Coast
Adaptive management has become an important tool for natural resource managers tasked with running complex systems in the face of growing uncertainty. It relies on a framework that continually updates management decisions based on the ongoing monitoring of data. This framework can apply to a variety of projects, including those designed to protect and restore coastal habitat. Louisiana’s massive coastal restoration efforts are a classic example of an elaborate and ever-changing landscape that calls for such an approach. For example, …
Enjoy the Holidays and Benefit the Environment With These Handy Household Tips
This year’s holiday celebrations will look different than years past. While we can’t gather and celebrate in the same ways as before, you can make new traditions with your families while also benefiting the environment. Between cooking, gifts, online orders and decorations, the holidays generate a lot of household waste. Much of this waste travels through our water systems and has a direct impact on our wildlife and coast. This holiday season, you can be mindful to reduce waste and …
Delta Dispatches: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Simone and Jacques close out 2020 with their 150th episode of Delta Dispatches, welcoming Greg Grandy, Deputy Executive Director for Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Greg highlights the immense progress that the agency made on implementing coastal restoration and protection projects in 2020, despite obstacles ranging from the Covid pandemic to an extremely active, unprecedented hurricane season. CPRA advanced 112 coastal projects with 49 projects in construction in 2020, and Greg also highlights what’s to come in 2021. …
Pedal Through Da Parish and learn About Louisiana’s Coast
A journey to the End of the World If you’re not in a hurry to get to the End of the World, it’s an enjoyable trip to make by bicycle. A 65-mile round trip from New Orleans is a marina in Delacroix Island nicknamed “End of the World.” St. Bernard Parish is a great place not far from New Orleans to experience coastal cultures and wildlife. Exploring the coast on a bike allows you to get an up close experience …
Delta Dispatches: Covering the Coast – A Conversation with Fox-8 News Anchor John Snell
Thanks for listening to Delta Dispatches! As we close out 2020, Jacques & Simone chat with one of Louisiana’s most iconic television journalists: WVUE Fox-8 News Anchor John Snell! You may know John from his decades-long career as a reporter and news anchor at WVUE Fox-8 in New Orleans, but in this episode, we get to know more about the man in front of the camera. John discusses what brought him to and kept him in New Orleans, advice to …
Delta Dispatches: …And a Pontchartrain Conservancy in a Pear Tree!
This week Simone and Jacques catch up with Pontchartrain Conservancy Executive Director Kristi Trail who recaps the biggest milestones for her organization in 2020. Kristi also highlights ongoing programs, from on-the-ground science on water quality and coastal restoration, to STEM education and volunteer tree plantings. There are many ways to support Pontchartrain Conservancy in their mission, from donations to volunteering to shopping at the New Canal Lighthouse. Learn more at scienceforourcoast.org. Listen Now: