Latest Mississippi River Delta News: November 20, 2015

Jindal’s proposed budget cuts include $6.4 million from coastal agency
*features Steve Cochran, MRD
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. November 19, 2015
“Coastal restoration dollars should be used to build land and protect communities – not fill holes in the state’s budget,” said Steve Cochran, who also is an associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.  “We have a rainy day fund for that exact purpose – let’s use it and not sell restoration short.” (Read More)

Concerns over wetlands restoration project
By Dennis Woltering, WWL TV. November 19, 2015
“Starkel’s firm operates the Chef Menteur Pass Wetland Mitigation Bank. That’s a business that sells restoration credits to developers and government agencies that have caused an impact to the environment. Federal law says if you damage a wetland area, you have to restore an equal amount of wetland somewhere else or buy credits from a mitigation bank like Starkel’s, so they can restore a wetland.” (Read More)