Gulf Groups Praise Senate Committee for Approving Gulf Restoration Bill
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Senate urged to pass bipartisan bill to dedicate oil spill fines to restore Gulf NEWS RELEASE (Washington, D.C.—September 21, 2011) A coalition of six groups supporting Gulf restoration praised the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee for approving legislation today, the RESTORE the Gulf Coast States Act, with a strong showing of bipartisan support. The bill passed by voice vote with only three requested no’s recorded. The legislation would ensure that penalties paid by BP and others responsible for …
Latest news: September 20, 2011
Supporting Senate bill to invest fines from BP’s spill is a vote for the Gulf Coast’s future: An editorial By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). September 20, 2011. “A bipartisan bill to dedicate most of the fines from the BP oil spill to restoring the Gulf Coast is set to come up for a vote in a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday. A vote for this bill is a vote for the future of the Gulf, so people …
Job opening: Project Manager Consultant for Lower Mississippi River Delta Design Initiative
More information about this position can be found on Idealist.org. Job: Project Manager Consultant Project: Lower Mississippi River Delta Design Initiative Location: Flexible between Washington, DC and New York City Introduction Responding to the collapse of social and environmental ecosystems across the Lower Mississippi River Delta, Environmental Defense Fund and Van Alen Institute have embarked on a major, multi-year initiative to address the physical, scientific, social, and economic challenges of designing—and implementing—a self-sustaining Louisiana delta landscape. Over the last century, engineered …
Faces of the Delta: Patty Whitney
By Chris Pulaski, National Wildlife Federation Next in our Faces of the Delta series, readers will be introduced to Patty Whitney: Multigenerational southeast Louisianan, community organizer, restoration advocate and history buff. Name: Patricia “Patty” Whitney Location: Thibodaux, Louisiana Occupation: Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO) staff, environmental advocate Tell me about your connection to south Louisiana. I was born and raised in south Louisiana and have never lived anywhere else (she was one of ten children). This is home. My ancestors …
Latest news: September 19, 2011
Gulf champion Nancy Rabalais gets her due: An editorial By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). September 19, 2011. “Marine ecologist Nancy Rabalais has been mapping the dead zone that forms off Louisiana’s coast for 27 years, work that has been critical in understanding and focusing attention on this important environmental issue. The Heinz Family Foundation has named her a 2011 recipient of a $100,000 Heinz award…” Holding BP accountable for bad decisions that led to oil spill …
Latest news: September 16, 2011
Analysis: BP oil spill report may prompt $30 billion pay-out By Tom Bergin, Reuters. September 16, 2011. “Findings of the second major investigation by the U.S. government into the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, may press BP into putting over $30 billion on the table to quickly settle its outstanding legal headaches…” Floating island going in at Isle de Jean Charles By Mike Nixon, Tri-Parish Times (Houma, La.). September 16, 2011. “One of the hardest hit communities in Terrebonne …
New report studies river diversions as an important restoration tool
By Alisha Renfro, Ph.D., National Wildlife Federation Since 1932, almost 1,900 square miles of ecologically and economically important land has been lost in coastal Louisiana. Historically, flooding from the Mississippi River built and maintained these coastal wetlands, but the construction of flood protection levees and upstream dams have cut off the connection between the river and its delta. River diversions direct water, nutrients and sediment back into the deteriorating wetlands and serve as an important restoration tool in the Mississippi …
Tagged ReportsNew report on Gulf oil spill damage reinforces need for restoration
Groups urge Congress to pass RESTORE Act to dedicate oil spill fines to restore Gulf (Washington, D.C.—September 14, 2011) A coalition of organizations supporting Gulf restoration says a new federal report revealing that BP, Transocean and Halliburton Co. made critical mistakes leading up to last year’s Gulf oil disaster reinforces the need for Congress to pass legislation to use the oil spill penalties for those mistakes to restore the Gulf. “The mistakes that these companies made damaged the ecosystems and …
Latest news: September 15, 2011
Preserving swamp near Maurepas is a conservation victory: An editorial By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). September 14, 2011. “Saving a 675-acre cypress-tupelo swamp near Maurepas from logging will preserve vital habitat for birds and animals, but it also means those trees will continue to act as buffers against storm surge instead of being ground up for garden mulch…” Native Americans demand a say in coastal restoration plans By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La). September …
Latest news: September 14, 2011
Plans firming up for water institute By Amy Wold, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). September 14,2011. “A list of board members for a new “water institute” in Louisiana targeting coastal research and restoration could be available within the next month and the search process for an executive director will begin soon, officials involved with the project said Tuesday…” Coast Guard Responds to Reports of Crude Oil in Bayou Dupont By Kate Durio, KATC News (Lafayette, La.). September 14, 2011. “The …
Conservation partnership permanently protects 675 acres of vital wetlands in Mississippi River Delta
On Friday (Sept. 9), the National Audubon Society, Land Trust for Southeast Louisiana and The Conservation Fund announced the permanent protection of 675 acres of diverse wetland habitat near the town of Maurepas, La. This acquisition will enhance an ongoing, multi-partner effort to expand and preserve key ecosystems within the West Pontchartrain-Maurepas Swamp Important Bird Area (IBA)–an area that provides a critical link for millions of migratory birds between North American nesting grounds and wintering areas in Latin America. Additionally, these protected wetlands …
Mississippi River campaign launches new ways to take action
Posted on behalf of the Mississippi River Network. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Visit. Learn. Tell Congress what’s up. The newly redesigned website for the 1 Mississippi campaign urges visitors to get involved in a great variety of ways to protect America’s greatest River. The site–www.1mississippi.org–is designed to reach a broad array of Mississippi River residents: River rats, advocates and members of the general public who are interested in learning about nature and the world around them. The new website has exciting …
Latest news: September 13, 2011
Conservation Fund purchase will preserve 675 acres of Maurepas Swamp By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). September 13, 2011. “A consortium of conservation groups has arranged the purchase of 675 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp bordering the town of Maurepas, assuring its protection as a refuge for migratory waterfowl, neotropical songbirds and several species of ducks. Saving the trees from logging also protects them as a hurricane storm surge and wind barrier for nearby communities…” Independent audit of fishers’ …
Latest news: September 12, 2011
Governor Touts Dredging and Coastal Restoration Projects Throughout SW LA DredgingToday.com. September 12, 2011. “Governor Bobby Jindal announced during a press conference in Lake Charles that the state has invested more money for dredging and sediment use in Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes than anywhere else in Louisiana, and it is paying off in marsh creation and increased hurricane surge protection…” Hundreds of acres of marsh, swamp in St. Tammany are donated to state By Paula Devlin, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, …
From the Delta to the Headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi
This piece is originally posted on the Vanishing Paradise blog. By Ben Weber, National Wildlife Federation We have to push for practices that do what is right for people, industry, commerce, and habitat. In my mind, restoring the Mississippi River Delta is the next piece of the puzzle in a long fight to protect waterfowl habitat. A few weeks ago I left my home in south Louisiana, as I often do, to travel the country and spread the word about the …