America's Wetland Foundation

Spillways Can Divert Sand from River to Rebuild Wetlands

By: ScienceDaily

Researchers could have a new method to rebuild wetlands of the Louisiana delta, thanks to a chance finding while monitoring severe flooding of the Mississippi River.

How to Rebuild the Mississippi Delta

By: Kelly Slivka, The New York Times

Our study “demonstrates that there’s a strong feasibility or potential to build new landscape in Louisiana,” said Jeffrey A. Nittrouer, a geologist at the University of Illinois and the lead author of the letter. He said the recent use of the Bonnet Carré spillway showed that by choosing the right place to build a diversion in the Mississippi and opening it at the right time, planners could build up a substantial amount of sediment in the delta.

Revitalize our coast, ensure our survival: A guest column by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise

By: Times-Picayune

It's a well-known fact that Louisiana loses a football field of land every hour and more than 16 miles of coastline a year. In all, Louisiana has lost enough land through coastal erosion to equal the entire state of Delaware.

TESTIMONY OF CHIEF THOMAS DARDAR, JR. PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE UNITED HOUMA NATION BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

TESTIMONY OF CHIEF THOMAS DARDAR, JR. PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE UNITED HOUMA NATION before the SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS REGARDING OVERSIGHT HEARING ON ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ON TREATY RIGHTS, TRADITIONAL LIFESTYLES AND TRIBAL HOMELANDS

Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup draws fresh criticism

By: Mark Schleifstein, Times-Picayune

With oil from the 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico continuing to show up on beaches and in wetlands along Louisiana's coast, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Wednesday passed a resolution criticizing the Coast Guard for prematurely allowing BP to pull cleanup teams from coastal areas it declares clean. The authority passed a second resolution requesting the governor's office and the state attorney general's office to brief its members on whether any of the state's criminal statutes can be applied to BP.

Houston energy exec to chair coastal conservation board

By: Deon Daugherty, Houston Business Journal

Bolstering claims I’ve heard from several Houston energy executives that they possess environmentalist tendencies, this week David Keane, the vice president of policy and corporate affairs for the natural gas powerhouse BG Group PLC, talked with me about his passion for protecting the Gulf Coast wetlands.

Our Views: A huge win for the coast

By: Advocate

With all the ups and downs of a legislative roller coaster, there was big and good news for Louisiana and the Gulf Coast in Congress’ action on a new federal highway bill.

America's WETLAND Foundation's Val Marmillion speaks with Garland Robinette on WWL Radio

By: WWL.com

AWF Managing Director Val Marmillion speaks with Garland about the effects of BP Oil fines and the restoration of our coasts.

States prepare to spend billions from BP fine money

By: Deborah Barfield Berry and Ledyard King, Shreveport Times

t took Gulf Coast lawmakers more than two years of prodding and negotiating to persuade a divided Congress their communities deserve most of the billions of dollars BP will pay in fines for its role in the 2010 oil spill.

La. parish aims to save itself by building land

By: KATC

To save Plaquemines Parish from disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico, leaders in this sparsely-populated citrus and ranch country south of New Orleans want fight hurricanes by building new marsh land and forested ridges. Officials want to use Mississippi River sediment and pump it into the open water surrounding their towns and businesses.

Wetland plants taking root

By: Richard Burgess, Advocate

Irises, bald cypress and other wetland plants are taking root at a greenhouse along the Bayou Vermilion as part of a program to help clean the waterway that runs through the heart of the city.

Deal tying BP oil spill fines to transportation bill getting close

By: Bruce Albert, Times-Picayune

Senate and House negotiators are nearing agreement on a two-year transportation bill that includes key components of legislation that would funnel billions of dollars in fines from the 2010 BP oil spill to the five Gulf States. "This is what we're been working for," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., as news of a possible transportation deal surfaced Tuesday afternoon that includes a measure known as the Restore Act. It would allocate 80 percent of any Clean Water Act fines for the massive spill to Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

Freshwater, sediment diversion from Mississippi River could build wetlands in Barataria Basin

By: Mark Schleifstein, Times-Picayune

Louisiana hopes to kick-start a major diversion of freshwater and sediment from the Mississippi River to build wetlands in the Barataria Basin, Garret Graves, chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said Monday at State of the Coast, a conference on Louisiana restoration issues. According to the state’s $50 billion, 50-year coastal protection and restoration master plan, the $284 million diversion would initially send a maximum of 50,000 cubic feet per second of water through a structure on the river’s west bank. It could eventually be expanded to 250,000 cubic feet per second — about a fifth of the river’s normal flow.

Extending Lake Pontchartrain's restoration efforts: An editorial

By: http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/06/extending_lake_pontchartrains.html

The decades-long effort to clean up Lake Pontchartrain has been boosted by federal funding made possible by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Act, and it's good to see Congress has begun the process to reauthorize that law.

Twilley to direct Sea Grant program

By: Advocate

Robert Twilley ends his two years as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s vice president of research to return to LSU in mid-August as the director of the Louisiana Sea Grant Program, according to an LSU news release.