Meet David Muth
← Older posts Newer posts →Meet David Muth
David Muth joined the National Wildlife Federation at the beginning of 2011 after working for the National Park Service at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve since 1980. At Jean Lafitte, he managed the park’s natural and cultural resources, including the Barataria Preserve, a wetland in the upper basin on the outskirts of New Orleans that Congress set aside as a representative example of the delta ecosystem. A native of New Orleans, David has had a lifelong love of the …
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 …
Tribute to Dr. Gregory Stone
By Angelina Freeman, Environmental Defense Fund Dr. Greg Stone, a highly valued professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University (LSU) and director of LSU’s Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), passed away on Thursday (Feb. 17) at the age of 53. Dr. Stone was an internationally respected coastal scientist whose research interests included waves, coastal morphyodynamics, and numerical modeling of sediment transport. “His interest in the oceanic processes that drive changes in coasts of different types …
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 …
President’s Budget Maintains Commitment to Funding Gulf Coast Restoration
On Monday (Feb. 14), five conservation groups praised President Obama for maintaining his commitment to Gulf Coast restoration by recommending the first-ever funding to construct wetlands projects to reverse wetlands losses in the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) of the Mississippi River Delta. The President’s Fiscal Year 2012 budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fund LCA restoration is $27 million, including $10.845 million for wetlands feasibility studies, $5.4 million for wetlands pre-construction engineering and design studies, $10.62 million …
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’ …
We Agree: Use Oil Spill Fines to Restore the Gulf
Dedicating Clean Water Act penalties from the Deepwater Horizon disaster to Gulf Coast restoration is one of the most important short-term steps Congress can take as the one-year anniversary of the catastrophic Macondo blowout approaches. In recent days, two newspaper editorials have tackled the topic. On January 31, the Scranton [Pennsylvania] Times-Tribune wrote: “It’s a great idea not just because the Gulf Coast suffered the environmental consequences of the disaster, but because it would help to address a host of …
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 …
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 …
New House Amendment Would Dedicate Gulf Oil Spill Fines to Gulf Restoration
Seven nonprofit advocacy groups praised an amendment in an updated oil spill response bill introduced last night (Jan. 26) by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Ma.) and other House Democrats that would implement a key recommendation by the bipartisan oil spill commission. The recommendation is for Congress to dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties to be assessed for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to Gulf Coast restoration. The groups also lauded GOP Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise for introducing bipartisan …
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 …
Vanishing Paradise Unveils New Website, Educates Sportsmen on Importance of Coastal Louisiana Restoration
By Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation In a joint effort to educate and unite sportsmen across the country on the critical need to restore coastal Louisiana, National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and Ducks Unlimited have unveiled a brand new website for Vanishing Paradise. The updated website offers new giveaways, opportunities to take action, and enhanced educational resources for hunters and anglers interested in joining the cause to help revive and recover a region damaged by decades of mismanagement and, more …
Oil Spill Commission Forum Stresses Need for Tougher Industry Standards, Better Safety Practices, and Coastal Restoration
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling held a public forum yesterday (Jan. 12) in New Orleans to discuss the commission’s final report that was released the day before with approximately 250 interested members of the public. Representatives from the National Wildlife Federation’s coastal Louisiana restoration team and oil spill commission members Donald F. Boesch and Frances G. Beinecke attended the public meeting. The commission members summarized the report’s findings and recommendations, including the …
Groups Urge Congress to Heed Oil Spill Commission Recommendation to Use Clean Water Act Fines for Gulf Restoration
Eight non-profit groups today called on Congress to heed a key recommendation in the final report from the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The recommendation is that “Congress should dedicate 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties to long-term restoration of the Gulf of Mexico” (see page 280 of report). “The oil spill commission recognizes that we cannot compound one tragedy with another,” said a joint statement by the Coalition to Restore Coastal …