Bijou Blowout
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The Vanishing Paradise team and outdoor writers descend on Lafitte, Louisiana for explosive redfishing – as well as an education. This piece was originally posted on Vanishing Paradise’s website. By Lew Carpenter, National Wildlife Federation Five outdoor writers representing sportsmen from coast-to-coast recently joined a Vanishing Paradise team for two days of fishing out of Captain Theophile Bourgeois’ Cajun Vista Inn in Lafitte, Louisiana. The calm skies were dusted with distant thunderheads as we headed out into the marsh with Captain …
Tripp to Task Force: Mississippi River Delta Restoration Must Be a Top Priority
By Jim Wyerman, Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Defense Fund’s Senior Counsel Jim Tripp yesterday delivered an impassioned plea at the Galveston, Texas public meeting of the President’s Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, calling on the multi-agency group to prioritize restoration of the Mississippi River Delta as key to ecological and economic recovery of the region. After working more than 35 years on Louisiana coastal issues, Tripp brought a seasoned vantage point to the big question of what the task …
Sportsmen Tell Congress: Restore the Mississippi River Delta
This piece was originally posted on the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Promise blog. Outdoor industry leaders from across the country are in D.C. this week, asking Congress to dedicate BP’s Clean Water Act fines from the oil spill to Gulf restoration. The oil spill hit the Mississippi River Delta particularly hard. The Delta hosts as many as 10 million ducks and geese during the winter and is famed for its diverse fishing opportunities. But this region was in trouble even before …
Myrtle Grove Diversion Modeling Reveals New Information on Land-building Potential
By Maura Wood, National Wildlife Federation The Myrtle Grove Medium Diversion is one of five highest priority near-term Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) restoration projects authorized by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. It is also one of a handful of projects authorized with the express authority to make changes in the project to respond to the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This opens the opportunity to modify Myrtle Grove to divert sediment and build land. In order …
Building a Blue Ribbon Resilient Community in Plaquemines Parish
By Karla Raettig, National Wildlife Federation As part of its Blue Ribbon Resilient Communities initiative (BRRC), America’s Energy Coast (AEC) held its second BRRC Leadership Forum on May 16 and 17 in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. The focus of the forums is to bring key stakeholders together to discuss the threats and opportunities in communities throughout the Gulf Coast. The Belle Chasse forum focused on how to ensure a safe and prosperous future for Plaquemines Parish because rapid land loss has …
Gulf Coast Task Force Sets Restoration Goals, Creates Citizens Advisory Committee
By Derek Brockbank, Environmental Defense Fund/National Audubon Society/National Wildlife Federation On Friday May 6, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force held a public meeting in Mobile, Al. President Obama assigned the task force to come up with a strategy for restoring the Gulf to make it better than it was to before the BP oil spill. It was the third public meeting in the Gulf for the task force, which previously had been held in Pensacola, Fl. and New Orleans, La. …
National Wildlife Federation Marks One Year Oil Spill Anniversary By Hosting Restoration Projects Throughout Coastal Louisiana
By Ben Weber, National Wildlife Federation National Wildlife Federation’s longstanding volunteer program is working actively with agencies engaged in restoration of important wildlife habitat areas around coastal Louisiana. For the one year anniversary of the BP oil disaster, NWF has launched a partnership with local organizations to host several restoration projects throughout coastal Louisiana. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_LYWCYHzhw&feature=youtu.be One of these projects is a marsh replanting in the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge. Partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife …
On BP Oil Disaster Anniversary, Groups Urge Congress to Use Fines to Restore Gulf Environment and Economy
On the first anniversary of the BP oil well blowout, regional and national leaders urged Congress to hold BP accountable by passing legislation to dedicate BP’s Clean Water Act (CWA) fines to restoring the Gulf’s damaged environment and economy. Under current law, fines paid by BP and others responsible for the spill automatically will be deposited into the Federal Treasury, instead of being used to help restore the Gulf region. U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and David Vitter (R-La.), Sen. …
BP Oil Disaster 1st Anniversary Event to Urge Congress to Get Together and Get Gulf Restoration Done
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR APRIL 20 BP Oil Disaster 1st Anniversary Event to Urge Congress to Get Together and Get Gulf Restoration Done Guided Tours Will Show Oil Spill Damage to Degraded Wetlands, How to Revitalize Them What: News conference and guided boat tours one year after the BP oil disaster, which caused major damage to wildlife and the fishing and tourism industries in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, and Florida. The oil spill could cost the Gulf tourism industry alone …
Mississippi River Diversions Workshop Tackles Difficult Scientific Questions
By Angelina Freeman (Environmental Defense Fund), David Muth (National Wildlife Federation), and Bryan Piazza (The Nature Conservancy) The Louisiana Coastal Area Program (LCA) Science and Technology Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) convened a meeting Feb. 23-24 on the technical issues of freshwater river diversions and the response of wetland soils and vegetation. The plants in coastal wetlands will drown if they cannot keep up with rising water levels. This fact is especially evident in Louisiana, where …
B.A.S.S. Backs Vanishing Paradise's Coastal Louisiana Restoration Efforts
The 2011 Bassmaster Classic, which begins today (Feb. 18) in New Orleans and continues through Sunday (Feb. 20), will showcase more than 50 of the world’s best bass anglers. It also will draw attention to important efforts to revitalize what the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) calls a “Vanishing Paradise.” B.A.S.S. LLC, a Florida-based membership organization with more than 500,000 bass anglers, which conducts the annual world championship of bass fishing, is partnering with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF) and NWF in campaigns …
Third and Final MRGO Public Meeting Held in New Orleans, Comment Period Ends Monday
By Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation The third and final public hearing on the draft plan to restore the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) ecosystem by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took place on Tuesday evening (Feb. 8) in New Orleans. About 100 people attended to hear more about the plan and voice their recommendations to the Corps. Previous meetings were held in Waveland, Ms. and Chalmette, La. “These public hearings are a crucial part of the Corps’ …
New Orleans Ranked First in Decade-Long Population Loss Due to Natural Disasters, Not Economic Decline
Guest post by Seyi Fayanju, Environmental Defense Fund Seyi works on the coastal Louisiana restoration project at Environmental Defense Fund. He is a contributor to EDF’s Restoration and Resilience blog, in which he writes about the links between hazard mitigation, environmental rehabilitation, and economic recovery in the Mississippi River Delta. Between 2000 and 2009, New Orleans lost more than a quarter of its residents, outpacing Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and other struggling “Rust Belt” cities in its pace of population loss. This decline …
Tagged EconomicsInfluential Sportsman Chris Nook Speaks About Importance of Louisiana Wetlands Restoration at MRGO Public Meeting
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation The second of three public hearings on the Army Corps of Engineers’ MRGO ecosystem restoration draft plan was held Tuesday evening (Jan. 25) in Waveland, Mississippi. Approximately 100 people turned out for the chance to learn more about the restoration plan and to share comments. In addition to Mississippi public officials and residents – as well as a sizeable contingency of Louisiana residents – sportsmen from Montana, Ohio, and Oklahoma made the journey to Waveland to …
Strong Interest in Coastal Restoration Reflected at MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Meeting in Chalmette
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation A crowd of 300 gathered at a school auditorium in St. Bernard Parish last night for the Army Corps of Engineers’ MRGO ecosystem restoration public hearing. The Corps presented the highlights of their draft plan for repairing damaged coastal wetlands as well as restoring some of the natural storm surge protection lost because of the infamous shipping channel. The MRGO Must Go Coalition, a group of 17 environmental and community organizations, has been working …