Master Plan Success: River Reintroduction to Maurepas Swamp
← Older postsMaster Plan Success: River Reintroduction to Maurepas Swamp
Project Highlight: River Reintroduction to Maurepas Swamp As one of the largest forested wetlands in the nation, Maurepas Swamp provides important ecological and socioeconomic benefits to southeast Louisiana. The swamp not only improves water quality and habitat for many species of conservation importance but also increases resilience against storms for coastal communities from the Greater New Orleans region to the River Parishes and up into Greater Baton Rouge. Voice for Restoration “The Biloxi Marsh Living Shoreline Project provides much-needed storm …
50 Years of Building New Land For the Wax Lake Delta
It’s been 50 years since the Wax Lake Delta began to emerge from open water. The delta continues to grow and thrive today, providing a living laboratory to study what is possible when we let the river build new land. Right now, the flow of the Mississippi River is hardly more than a trickle due to the low rainfall throughout much of the river’s enormous watershed. However, in 1973, rain and snow fell throughout the same watershed, causing the river …
What’s Next for MRGO? Centering Communities and Rebuilding the Ecosystem
A Q & A with Amanda Moore, Director of NWF’s Gulf Program and Coordinator of the MRGO Must Go Coalition Below, Amanda discusses takeaways from the panel “What’s Next for MRGO? Exploring the Path Forward with Federal Funding for Restoration” at the State of the Coast Conference. Other panel participants were Arthur Johnson from the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development; Guy McInnis, St. Bernard Parish President; Austin Feldbaum, Hazard Mitigation Administrator for the City of New …
It’s Christmas in July: How Your Christmas Trees are Restoring the Coast
For over 25 years, New Orleanians have contributed to the restoration of their coastal ecosystem by taking part in the city’s annual Christmas tree recycling program. This year, the City of New Orleans’ Office of Resilience and Sustainability, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Army National Guard, conducted the city’s annual Christmas Tree Drop on April 26th. About 4,000 bundled trees were collected by contractors from the Department of Sanitation and subsequently sorted and …
Master Plan Success: Rabbit Island
Project Highlight: Rabbit Island Restoration Rabbit Island is essential to many colonial nesting bird species, including Brown Pelicans and reddish egrets. Prior to restoration, the island had lost 89 acres of landmass. This land loss had led to the deterioration of the Rabbit Island rookery and jeopardized the second largest Brown Pelican rookery in Louisiana. The island restoration was completed in 2021 as part of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan. This barrier island project used sediment dredged from Calcasieu Ship …
Master Plan Success: Biloxi Marsh Living Shoreline
Project Highlight: Biloxi Marsh Living Shoreline This living shoreline project is estimated to generate approximately 47,000 feet of oyster barrier reef along the eastern shore of Biloxi Marsh, providing a habitat for oysters, reducing wave erosion, and preventing further marsh degradation. This enhanced marsh area serves as an important storm buffer for the greater New Orleans region. Voice for Restoration “The Biloxi Marsh Living Shoreline Project provides much-needed storm protection for St. Bernard communities. It is a great example of …
How Does the Coastal Master Plan Impact Me?
Earlier this month, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority released its draft 2023 Coastal Master Plan (CMP). This plan serves as a guide for Louisiana’s coastal restoration and risk reduction efforts and is released every 6 years. The plan is the end product of thousands of hours of engineering, research and modeling to determine how to best spend Louisiana’s resources over the next 50 years in the face of climate change, sea level rise and land loss. At 100 …
An Ever-changing River: Examining Where Land Meets Water
Based in New Orleans, Virginia Hanusik is a visual artist whose projects explore the relationship between landscape, culture and the built environment. Through her photography, she manages to beautifully capture the visual narrative of climate change on the Mississippi River and the surrounding areas. Her work has been featured internationally across major publications like The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and National Geographic, to name a few. Her dedication to telling the story of the delta continued last year in her …
Getting the Recipe Right: How Adaptive Management Can Help Optimize Diversions
As the weather begins to cool down in Louisiana, there is no better time to talk about everyone’s favorite dish: a nice warm bowl of gumbo. Whether your favorite is seafood or chicken and sausage, several steps go into perfecting a gumbo recipe. “Coastal restoration” might not immediately come to mind when you think about a perfect gumbo. But in reality, perfecting the operation of Louisiana’s sediment diversions is a lot like getting a classic gumbo recipe tried, true, and …
The Mississippi River is Our Greatest Force for Building Land
Skip to a section 1. The River in Action. Neptune Pass Is Building Land 2. Diversions Build Land. Period. 3. While not a Sediment Diversion, the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion Builds Land 4. Wetlands Need Sediment to Survive 5. Roots + Sediment = Stronger Soils, More Resilient Marshes 6. There is more to Sediment than Sand 7. Diversions are Field-Tested and Scientifically Solid 8. The Mid Barataria Sediment Diversion is a Coastal Restoration Project, Not MRGO 9. Diversions + Nutrients = …
Battered by Recent Hurricanes, Southwest Louisiana Benefits from New Coastal Restoration Projects
This is the third blog in a series focused on coastal restoration projects advancing across Louisiana’s coast. You can read the Southeast blog here, and the Central Coast blog here. In August of 2020, Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Cameron, Louisiana, located along the state’s southwest coast. Less than 45 days later, Hurricane Delta made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane just east of Cameron in Creole, Louisiana. These storms devastated the people and communities …
Coastal Restoration is More Important Than Ever for Communities Across Louisiana’s Central Coast
This is the second blog in a series focused on coastal restoration projects advancing across Louisiana’s coast. You can read the Southeast blog here, and the Southwest Coast blog here. As communities across Louisiana continue to recover from the devastation of the last two hurricane seasons, it’s difficult to think that another hurricane season is about to begin. In 2020, five storms made landfall in Louisiana – the most ever – with Hurricanes Laura and Delta devastating the southwest portion …
With No Time to Lose, Louisiana Is Constructing More Coastal Restoration and Protection Projects Than Ever
This is the first blog in a series focused on coastal restoration projects advancing across Louisiana’s coast. You can read the Southwest blog here, and the Central Coast blog here. When the first Louisiana Coastal Master Plan was released in 2007, just two years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, we laid out massive restoration needs with no time to lose. Overwhelming? Yes. Pipe Dream? No. Today, we are seeing the consistent advocacy and commitment to the Louisiana coast turn big …
Project to Restore Maurepas Swamp Takes One Important Step Forward
Army Corps releases plan selecting Maurepas restoration project as mitigation for nearby levee construction. Overview of Maurepas Swamp As one of the largest forested wetlands in the nation, Maurepas Swamp provides important ecological and socioeconomic benefits to southeast Louisiana. The swamp not only improves water quality and habitat for many species of conservation importance, but also increases resilience against storms for coastal communities from the Greater New Orleans region to the River Parishes and up into Greater Baton Rouge. However, …
Announcing Simone Maloz as Restore the Mississippi River Delta’s Campaign Director
These last few months have made it abundantly clear that Louisiana needs its coast now more than ever. Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated our state more than 15 years ago, there has been considerable progress to implement the Coastal Master Plan, resulting in increased flood protection for more people and businesses, restored habitat for fish and wildlife, as well as the creation of jobs and the restoration economy. However, much work remains, and the coming years will see some …