National Wildlife Federation Marks One Year Oil Spill Anniversary By Hosting Restoration Projects Throughout Coastal Louisiana
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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 …
Wetland Scientists, St. Bernard Parish Landowners, and 27,000 Americans Weigh In on MRGO Restoration
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation The MRGO Must Go Coalition partnered with leading scientists and prominent landowners in St. Bernard Parish to submit detailed recommendations to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for review and incorporation into its final plan to restore massive ecosystem damage caused by the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel. The recommendations were based on two prior reports released by the Coalition and reviewed over several months by a group of coastal scientists with expertise in …
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’ …
Louisiana's Christmas Tree Recycling Program: Reusing Trees to Rebuild the Coast
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation One of the simplest ways Louisianans can help rebuild their coastal ecosystem is by participating in the Christmas tree recycling program. Jefferson Parish, for example, has constructed “Christmas tree cribs” along miles of wetland shoreline. Discarded Christmas trees are collected and then placed in the wooden cribs, to help break up wave energy and protect the wetlands from erosion. By donating a Christmas tree – or by getting dirty in the marsh and building cribs – anyone …
Influential 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 …
Let Your Voice Be Heard: Public Comment Period for MRGO Draft Restoration Plan Is Underway
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation Update to our previous post: The 60-day public comment period is open for the Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Draft Restoration Plan. The restoration of the ecosystem along the MRGO will help to protect the City of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish by providing a coastal buffer to storm surge and waves. In addition, restoration will increase coastal resiliency to subsidence and sea level rise and keep our estuaries healthy …
Louisiana Coastal Area 6 Project Profile: Convey Atchafalaya River Water to Northern Terrebonne Marshes
By Angelina Freeman (Environmental Defense Fund), Natalie Snider (Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana) and John Lopez (Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation) As we discussed in a previous post, four of our organizations recently reviewed and provided comments on the six near-term Louisiana Coastal Area 6 project reports and final environmental impact statements. In contrast to the robustness of the Medium Diversion at White Ditch project, the narrowing of ambition in the design of the Convey Atchafalaya River Water to Northern Terrebonne Marshes/Multipurpose …
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Ecosystem Restoration Plan Moves Forward
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation The Army Corps of Engineers is set to release the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Ecosystem Restoration Plan Draft Feasibility Report this Friday, December 17, officially opening the 45-day public comment period. The release marks an important and long-awaited step toward community protection and large-scale coastal restoration for the Greater New Orleans region. The extensive flooding of the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina was directly attributable to the MRGO, …
Learning from the Dutch: “Living With Water” Part II
By Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund In our previous post about Senator Landrieu’s Third Congressional Delegation to the Netherlands, Courtney Taylor from Environmental Defense Fund provided an overview of the trip, including where the delegation went, what they saw, and how they learned to “live with water.” Many representatives from the non-profit sector attended, including staff from some of our coalition organizations. The 4-day trip included site tours and meetings with Dutch officials and engineers. In one of the sessions, the …
Louisiana Coastal Area 6 Project Profile: Medium Diversion at White Ditch
By Angelina Freeman, Environmental Defense Fund The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund and National Audubon Society reviewed and provided comments on the six near-term Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA 6) project reports and final environmental impact statements. Among the LCA 6, perhaps the most ground-breaking is the tentatively selected plan that incorporates pulsing for the Medium Diversion at White Ditch. White Ditch would provide freshwater, nutrients and sediments to restore degraded habitat and sustain a larger coastal ecosystem east of the …
First Meeting of Gulf Restoration Task Emphasizes Action, Inclusiveness, Comprehensiveness
By Paul Harrison, Environmental Defense Fund A packed room of approximately 250 people in Pensacola, Fl. welcomed the first meeting of President Obama’s Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force on Nov. 8th. Impassioned speeches from Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chairman Garret Graves and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mimi A. Drew emphasized the environmental, human, and economic need for not only fixing the damage caused directly by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, but also addressing the long-term …
Public Scoping Meetings Held for Myrtle Grove Diversion
By Maura Wood, National Wildlife Federation Last week, members of the public were invited to attend and participate in a series of scoping meetings about the proposed Myrtle Grove Diversion in southern Louisiana. The three public meetings officially launched the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Feasibility Study for the Myrtle Grove Diversion. Ensuring that Myrtle Grove is constructed as a land-building, pulsed, sediment diversion is a key element of our coalition’s coastal restoration campaign. Scoping meetings allow stakeholders the opportunity to give input …