America's Wetland Foundation

An agreement to seek BP fines to restore the Gulf Coast: An editorial

By: Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune

Gulf Coast senators have finally rallied behind a single bill to commit most of the Clean Water Act fines levied against BP to the states that were harmed by last year's devastating oil spill. That's a critical development for Louisiana. The Deepwater Horizon blew up off the coast of Louisiana, and this state bore the brunt of the months-long spill that fouled the Gulf of Mexico. It's only right that Louisiana should get a significant share of the fines assessed for harm to the environment.

Residents escape flooding for higher ground

By: Nikki Buskey, Houma Today, Staff Writer

Brett Duthu and his wife moved from Grand Caillou two weeks ago to a new home in Houma. They wanted to start a family, and they knew they couldn't do it on the bayou. Their home in Grand Caillou was too small, and purchasing a new one was out of the question considering the cost to insure it. They said goodbye.

WYES Announces New Coastal Web Project

WYES, the Louisiana Public Television Station in New Orleans, announces a novel Web venture. The Wyes Reshaping a Greater New Orleans: Rebuilding Our Coast project offers an opportunity to hear first-hand from those working on restoration plans and projects and also to learn how the public can become part of the effort to rebuild the coast. “Public agencies and private groups are working to rebuild the coast. They say it can be done. This site explains how.” Visit http://www.wyes.org/reshapingnola and click on the logos to see the interviews with wetland leaders including: Garret Graves, Steve Mathies, Jim Boggs, Kerry St. Pe’, Steven Peyronnin, Carlton Dufrechou, R. King Milling, and Val Marmillion. As WYES continues to explore this dynamic subject, return frequently to learn more about Louisiana’s efforts to rebuild.

BREAKING NEWS: RESTORE THE GULF ACT OF 2011 INTRODUCED IN SENATE TODAY

Calling today’s introduction of a bill to restore and sustain the Gulf of Mexico and its coast an historic moment in reviving a dying ecosystem, the America’s WETLAND Foundation (AWF) lauded U.S. Senate leaders who unified around the legislation. “Rarely has the Gulf Coast come together as a region, even though our common challenges include the greatest continuous loss of land on the planet due to coastal erosion, subsidence and sea level rise,” said King Milling, AWF Chairman.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR LEGISLATOR TO SUPPORT S. 1400.

By: Mary Landrieu, U. S. Senator For Louisiana

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., today introduced legislation that calls for dedicating at least 80% of BP penalties paid under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to Gulf states to invest in the long-term health of the coastal ecosystem and its economies. Joining Sens. Landrieu and Shelby as original cosponsors of the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act of 2011 are Sens. David Vitter, R-La., Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Sen. Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who was instrumental in forging an agreement on the bill, has committed to taking up the bill in her committee as soon as possible.

Coastal restoration process criticized

By: Mike Hasten, Monroe News Star

BATON ROUGE — The Mississippi River is the key element in restoring Louisiana's coastal wetlands, restoration advocates say, but with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit process taking years to get anything approved, a new system is needed.

Corps of Engineers closing Louisiana science office

By: Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

A fight between the Army Corps of Engineers and the state over who controls the science governing construction of nearly $2 billion in coastal restoration projects has led the corps to order closure of the Louisiana Coastal Area Science & Technology Office by Oct. 1. The corps is considering using the office’s unspent money to dredge sediment from the Mississippi River or repair levees damaged during this year’s flooding.

Coastal protection director steps down

By: Amy Wold, Advocate staff writer

After two years as the leader of the state’s Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, Steve Mathies’ last day on the job was Friday. In a resignation letter he sent to staff on July 1, Mathies wrote the decision wasn’t an easy one for him.

Reps. Steve Scalise and Cedric Richmond get House to spring for $1 million to restore coast

By: Bruce Alpert, , Times-Picayune

Four days after the U.S. House defeated an amendment that would have restored nearly all the $35.8 million President Barack Obama requested for ecosystem restoration in Louisiana, two state lawmakers won passage Friday of an amendment that provides a modest $1 million for the project.

House defeats amendment to fund ecosystem restoration work in Louisiana

By: Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune

WASHINGTON -- The first attempt to restore funding requested by the Obama administration for ecosystem restoration projects in Louisiana has failed. The House of Representatives voted 246-162 Monday night against an amendment that would have retained fiscal year 2011 funding for new construction projects by the Corps of Engineers.

Gulf of Mexico's significance felt on state, national levels

By: Art Chapman, Star-Telegram

Every year for the past 10 years, Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine has published its July issue devoted especially to the state of water in Texas. And, every year during that period I have dutifully purchased that special edition and tried to update myself on the serious issues of Texas and its constant battle to provide enough water for an exploding population and still keep enough for healthy lakes, rivers, estuaries and bays. It's not that I am a devoted conservationist, though I do have causes I support. I consider myself kind of a middle-of-the-roader. I wouldn't know a snail darter from a blind salamander, and even if I did, I'm not sure I would consider life without either one of them truly catastrophic. I could be wrong.

America's WETLAND partner LSU Coastal Studio Awarded

By: LSU Media Center

BATON ROUGE – LSU’s two-year-old Coastal Sustainability Studio, or CSS, was recently named the 2011 Place Research Award winner by The Environmental Design Research Association, or EDRA, an international, interdisciplinary organization founded in 1968 by design professionals, social scientists, students, educators, and facility managers.

Rep. Reynolds Honored to Serve on America's Energy Coast Honorary Leadership Council

By: Rep. Reynolds, Ron, Texas House of Representatives

America's Energy Coast (AEC), is a national initiative of the America's WETLAND Foundation. The AEC is an initiative that joins the four energy producing Gulf states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama by bringing together leaders from government, academia, industry, the national environmental and conservation community, and stakeholders from coastal communities all along the Gulf to create a regional, balanced voice in the national discussion on America's energy future.

07/05 - BOEMRE Awards $1.3 Million for Louisiana Preservation Project

By: Press Release, 3 KATC.com

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced today that it has awarded a $1,345,000 Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) grant to St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. The grant will provide funding for the Green Property Preservation Project, an initiative to purchase a private parcel of land in the parish for preservation and restoration.

6/30- Letter: Use oil leak fines to save wetlands

By: Wesley Johnson, President, East Ascension Sportsman’s League, Livingston

Father’s Day is always a time for me to reflect and be thankful for all the time I’ve spent with my dad. That almost always means remembering the great trips we’ve made together to hunt and fish in Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.