Master Plan In the News
Failure to fix it is not an option with our coast
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
By American Press
Now that the RESTORE Act, which will direct billions of dollars to five Gulf states impacted by the BP oil spill, has become law, the next order of business in Louisiana is directing that money to coastal restoration projects…
http://www.americanpress.com/AP-Editorial-8-23-12
Coastal director says BP must pay to the max
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
By Susan Buchanan, The Louisiana Weekly
Garret Graves, chairman of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said last week “we will not allow BP to walk out of here, wiping its hands” of its responsibilities. He spoke at a July 18 forum sponsored by the City of New Orleans and The National Wildlife Federation on protecting the region from the spill’s aftermath, weather threats and a shrinking coastline…
Nature takes a crack at rebuilding Louisiana marsh
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press
A small breach on the marsh-covered east bank of the Mississippi River south of New Orleans is giving rise to calls to let the river run wild…
http://picayuneitem.com/statenews/x1146337856/Nature-takes-a-crack-at-rebuilding-Louisiana-marsh
Editorial: RESTORE Act may help turn tide in battle to protect coast, wetlands
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
By American Press
At long last, the RESTORE Act has become the law of the land, and with it, the promise of desperately needed funds to begin the massive campaign of saving Louisiana’s endangered coast and wetlands…
http://www.americanpress.com/AP-Editorial-7-11-12
Gulf Coast states prepare to spend billions in fine money
Sunday, July 8, 2012
By Deborah Barfied Berry and Ledyard King, thetowntalk.com
It 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…
Louisiana won’t get as much in Gulf oil spill fines as officials hoped
Sunday, July 08, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
A close reading of the conference committee report outlining the compromise Restore Act approved by Congress last week shows that Louisiana won’t get as many billions in Clean Water Act fines as state leaders had hoped. Compromise language awards other states larger shares than Louisiana officials believethey deserve…
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/07/louisiana_wont_get_as_much_in.html
Passage of Restore Act to be a “game changer” in coastal restoration
Saturday, June 30, 2012
By Monica Hernandez, WWLTV Eyewitness News
Billions of dollars for coastal restoration could be headed to Louisiana. Congress has passed the Restore Act, which means impacted Gulf states will receive the majority of oil-spill related fines…
Restore Act passes Congress
Saturday, June 30, 2012
By Nikki Buskey, The Daily Comet
A bill that could send billions in BP oil spill fines to the Gulf Coast for restoration projects passed Congress Friday and headed to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature…
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120630/ARTICLES/120639999/1320?Title=Restore-Act-passes-Congress
Billions headed to Gulf Coast with passage of RESTORE Act
Friday, June 29, 2012
By Business Report
RESTORE Act legislation, which will direct billions of dollars in BP oil spill fines to Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states, was approved today by Congress. Specifically, the act will direct 80% of all Clean Water Act fines paid by BP to Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and Florida for economic and environmental restoration efforts…
http://www.businessreport.com/article/20120629/BUSINESSREPORT0112/120629748/-1/daily-report
Louisiana coastal projects slated to hit half-billion dollar mark in 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
By John Snell, Fox 8 Live
After years of talk and tens of millions of dollars in studies, Louisiana’s top coastal official told a conference the state will set a record this year for actually turning dirt…
DNR staff presents expanded coastal plan to parish officials
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
By Mike Nixon, Tri-Parish Times
Expansions to the state’s coastal boundary zones, and related changes to permitting laws, are being explained to government officials, real estate professionals and the general public in Louisiana’s lower 20 parishes…
http://www.tri-parishtimes.com/news/article_410cbefa-bfba-11e1-950c-001a4bcf887a.html
Land Loss, Job Gains – How a New Orleans lawmaker managed to soothe the fears of contractors in an effort to link local jobs to coastal projects
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
By Jeremy Alford, Gambit
Beginning Aug. 1, contractors overseeing major developments along the coast and Lake Pontchartrain must take steps to bring local workers onto their job sites. It’s not a blanket mandate, but if the projects are being funded by certain state or federal monies, contractors must at least make an effort to hire locals…
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/land-loss-job-gains/Content?oid=2028851
Freshwater, sediment diversion from Mississippi River could build wetlands in Barataria Basin
Monday, June 25, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The 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…
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/06/freshwater_sediment_diversion.html
State Of The Coast Conference gives reasons for optimism
Monday, June 25, 2012
By Paul Murphy, Eyewitness News
Louisiana is losing about 25 square miles of wetlands per year. Past storms and construction of levees along the Mississippi River which prevent sediment from reaching the marshes have taken their toll on the coast. The brightest minds in coastal sciences are meeting this week at the Morial Convention Center…
Louisiana coast conference kicks off in New Orleans
Monday, June 25, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Graves, chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, stepped in for Gov. Bobby Jindal this morning to kick off the three-day State of the Coast conference in NewOrleans co-sponsored by the authority and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. Jindal is tied up in a staff meeting dealing in part with preparations for Tropical Storm Debby, which now is scheduled to make landfall on the Florida panhandle at 1 a.m. Friday…
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/06/senior_louisiana_coastal_offic.html
Communities outside levee protection system seeking ways to improve storm protection
Sunday, June 17, 2012
By Maya Rodriguez, www.WWLTV.com
At a dedication on Saturday in Lafitte, a plaque unveiling paid tribute to a community that is no longer there. Manila Village– a Filipino community– once stood near Barataria Bay, until Hurricane Betsy swept it away in 1965…
Coastal restoration requires long-term commitment
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
Without commitment from Louisiana’s leaders and residents, and the support of the country, coastal Louisiana faces a dire future of land loss and more storm damage, says King Milling, a former president of Whitney National Bank and a current member of several coastal Louisiana groups…
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/3014067-123/inside-report-for-wednesday-june
Speaker to be featured at luncheon
Saturday, June 2, 2012
By Jennifer Armand, Bayou Industrial Group, Houma Today
Coastal restoration and protection activities are always of high interest to those of us living at ground zero for hurricanes and coastal land loss, particularly as hurricane season kicks off in earnest…
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120602/ARTICLES/120609930
Native Lands Wash Away as Sea Levels Rise
Friday, June 1, 2012
By Saskia de Melker, PBS NewsHour
Along the coastal bayous of Louisiana, forests are full of dead bald cypress trees, their roots ravaged by saltwater that has been creeping increasingly inland from the Gulf of Mexico…
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/climate-change/jan-june12/louisianacoast_05-30.html
U.S. House votes to restore funding for Louisiana ecosystem restoration
Friday, June 1, 2012
By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune
The House voted 216-177 today to restore $10 million of the $16.8 million proposed by President Barack Obama for the first phase of construction under the Louisiana Coastal Area Program…
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/post_473.html
Don’t raid coastal money from BP spill fines: An editorial
Friday, June 1, 2012
By Manuel Torres, The Times-Picayune
Louisiana lawmakers must understand the urgency of coastal restoration — this state is facing a struggle for its survival and desperately needs Congress to commit 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP spill to the Gulf Coast states by passing the Restore Act…
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/06/dont_raid_coastal_money_from_b.html
Amendment turns coastal money into slush fund
Thursday, May 31, 2012
By Walter Pierce, The Independent Weekly
Coastal restoration advocates are up in arms over an amendment inserted into a bill that would direct fines paid by BP and other companies linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill to thestate’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund…
http://www.theind.com/news/10626-amendment-turns-coastal-money-into-slush-fund
Northshore protection included in coastal plan
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
By David Freese, St. Tammany News
The Louisiana House of Representatives approved a 50-year, $50 billion plan last week that will help combat Louisiana’s eroding coast while enforcing protection in numerous locations, St. Tammany Parish included…
http://www.thesttammanynews.com/news/article_824647d4-a9d9-11e1-ab9e-001a4bcf887a.html
Report shows storm damage could cost Orleans and JP $1.5 billion by 2030
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
By Maya Rodriguez, WWLTV
With the start of the 2012 hurricane season in sight, leaders from communities across the Gulf coast are gathering in New Orleans this week and planning for the worst in the comingyears…
Approval of 2012 Master Plan for the Coast is worth celebrating
Sunday, May 27, 2012
By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune
Congratulations are in order today. To the fish and seafood of southeast Louisiana that power one of the most valuable commercial and sports fishing industries in the nation; To the oil and gas industries that mine billions of dollars from our wetlands and offshore property; To the nation that relies on the energy pumped through our coast; To the largest port complex in the nation and all the millions of workers in more than two dozen states that depend on it for their livelihoods; And to the several million people who live on the starving, crumbling deltas of the Mississippi River…
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2012/05/approval_of_2012_master_plan_f.html
RESTORE Act huge step in war to save wetlands
Friday, May 25, 2012
By American Press
Approval by the state Legislature earlier this week of the 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan presents a monumental step in the war the forces that are eating away at our state’s wetlands…
http://www.americanpress.com/AP-Editorial-5-26-12
Master plan for La. coast multi-faceted
Friday, May 25, 2012
By Jeremy Alford, Daily Comet
While it’s easy to focus on local projects included in the coastal master plan the Legislature passed this week, it might be more difficult to pick apart and identify policy-related themes…
Groups to Louisiana Legislature: Ensure oil spill fines are used for coastal restoration
Friday, May 25, 2012
By RESTORE The Mississippi River Delta
Earlier this week, the Louisiana Legislature finalized passage of the 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan. This landmark document lays out a bold, science-based vision for restoring the state’s vanishing coastline. The suite of restoration projects included in the plan promises to ease and then reverse the state’s staggering land-loss rates over the course of 50 years…
Milling Statement Regarding Final Approval Of The 2012 Coastal Master Plan
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
By America’s WETLAND Foundation
We have reached a milestone in Louisiana’s ongoing efforts to restore the values of our eroding coast in Louisiana known as America’s WETLAND. The Louisiana’s Legislature’s passage of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan represents a nationally significant comprehensive systems approach to coastal restoration and protection of one of the nation’s most critical natural resources…
http://www.americaswetland.com/article.cfm?id=1715
Conservation Groups Commend Louisiana Legislature for Approving State’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
By Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation
Local and national conservation groups praised the state Legislature today for unanimously approving the 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan, a 50-year blueprint for restoring Louisiana’s rapidly disappearing coastal wetlands and protecting the state’s natural resources and communities…
Louisiana legislators approve 2012 Coastal Master Plan
By Ducks Unlimited
On May 22, the Louisiana legislature unanimously approved the updated, $50 billion, 50-year Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, aimed at stopping coastal land loss in Louisiana, the last step in an approval process that began in January…
http://www.ducks.org/louisiana/louisiana-legislators-approve-2012-coastal-master-plan?poe=rss
Approval of 2012 Master Plan for the Coast is worth celebrating
Sunday, May 27, 2012
By The Times-Picayune
Congratulations are in order today. Congratulations because, finally, there is a fighting chance we’ll all still be here in 50 years…
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2012/05/approval_of_2012_master_plan_f.html
Louisiana hailed for coastal measures
Thursday, May 24, 2012
By United Press International
Louisiana legislators were praised by a consortium of environmental groups for outlining a 50-year plan to protect the coastal ecosystem. Lawmakers in the southern U.S. state passed, in a unanimous vote, a plan to lay out long-term goals for restoring coastal wetlands…
Legislature OKs coastal Master Plan
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
By Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
A $50 billion, 50-year proposal aimed at stopping coastal land loss in Louisiana has passed the state Legislature…
http://businessreport.com/article/20120523/BUSINESSREPORT0112/120529919/-1/daily-reportAM
2012 Coastal Master Plan aims to stem tide of Louisiana land loss
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
By Maya Rodriguez, WWLTV
Looking 50 years into the future, Louisiana’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan aims to turn back the tide of the relentless land loss plaguing the state. “We’ve been losing roughly 30 miles a year off of our coast. We can not continue to lose that amount of land and protect our people, protect our ecosystems,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-Louisiana…
Legislature passes coastal master plan
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
By The Daily Comet
A $50 billion, 50-year proposal aimed at stopping coastal land loss in Louisiana has passed the state Legislature. The Senate voted 94-0 Tuesday in favor of the 2012 coastal master plan. By law, the state has to update it every five years…
Lower Miss. cuts new pass
Monday, May 14, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
Scientists saw something new happen to the lower Mississippi River on Mardi Gras Day — the birth of a new Mississippi River pass…
http://theadvocate.com/home/2802456-125/river-charts-new-course
Legislator says coastal plan not optional for state
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
By The Advocate
Louisiana has little choice but to adopt a $50 billion plan to pay for projects that would protect and restore the state’s coastline, the second-highest-ranking member of the Louisiana House of Representatives said Monday…
http://theadvocate.com/home/2766032-125/legislator-says-coastal-plan-not
Letter: Act to help revive La. Gulf Coast
Monday, April 30, 2012
By The Advocate
Two years after the BP oil spill, the Louisiana Gulf Coast has reached a tipping point. It is on the cusp of the most ambitious conservation and economic restoration effort in its history…
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2675285-123/letter-act-to-help-revive
Coastal zone changes await debate
Saturday, April 21, 2012
By Jeremy Alford, Capitol Correspondent
The House of Representatives will vote on a legislative package in coming days that would refine the boundaries ofLouisiana’s coastal zone and restructure the region’s engineering protocols…
Thank you for your input
Sunday, April 15, 2012
By Houma Today
BISCO is a local, nonprofit, grassroots organization working to improve the lives of residents in southeastern coastal Louisiana. Our mission includes building up the capacity and voices of every day people to address issues of importance to them, to make their communities safer, healthier and sustainable….
Mississippi Delta is at risk, but restoration will create jobs and stimulate the economy – report
Thursday, April 12, 2012
By Umair Irfan, E&E reporter
Re-engineering the Mississippi River will stem catastrophic economic and environmental losses from human development and climate change while raising billions of dollars in value, according to a report released yesterday…
http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/04/12/2
Coastal restoration summary released
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
A summary of a Mississippi River delta report released Monday outlines major questions about coastal restoration work in Louisiana, its future and the potential consequences of inaction…
http://theadvocate.com/news/2530774-123/coastal-restoration-summary-released
Voters support Louisiana’s latest master plan for coastal work
Friday, April 6, 2012
By Nikki Buskey, Houma Today
Eighty-six percent of Louisiana voters say they want their legislators to approve the state’s 2012 coastal master plan, according to a poll released this week. The plan lays out a 50-year, $50 billion vision for protecting and restoring the coast, including building up hurricane protection projects like Terrebonne’s Morganza-to-the-Gulf and reconnecting the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers to disappearing coastalwetlands…
New Orleans residents get updates on levees, coastal work at meeting set by David Vitter
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
New Orleans-area residents peppered officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and state and regional levee agencies with questions about the status of levee and coastal restoration projects during a Wednesday public meeting at the University of New Orleans sponsored by U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La…
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/04/new_orleans_residents_get_upda.html
Putting a priority on Louisiana’s coast: An editorial
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
By The Times-Picayune
A statewide survey on the state’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan sends a strong message to lawmakers: Pass it. Eighty-six percent of the 801 Louisianians surveyed by Southern Media & Opinion Research said they support a legislative vote for the plan. An even higher number of respondents — 91 percent — said the coast and wetlands are veryimportant to Louisiana…
http://www.nola.com/opinions/
Poll says most back La. coastal plan
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
The plan is a $50 billion, 50-year plan that includes plans for marsh creation, diversions of water and sediment from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, and hurricane protection. The vast majority of Louisiana residents stated they want their legislators to approve the state’s master plan for coastal restoration and protection, according to a poll released Tuesday…
http://theadvocate.com/news/2482297-123/poll-says-most-back-la
Poll: Majority of La. voters want 2012 Coastal Master Plan approved
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
By Business Report
According to a new poll released today by Baton Rouge-based Southern Media & Opinion Research, 86% of voters in Louisiana say they want their legislators to approve the state’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan. The plan lays out a 50-year vision for protecting and restoring the coast, including increased hurricane risk reduction for coastal communities and reconnecting the Mississippi River with disappearing coastal wetlands…
http://businessreport.com/article/20120403/BUSINESSREPORT0112/120409954/-1/daily-reportPM
Take Two: Revised coastal plan wins over some critics
Thursday, March 29, 2012
By Fox 8 Live
Some of those most affected by the state’s Coastal Master Plan greeted its unveiling two months ago with a loud thud. However, the Jindal Administration has wonover some early critics thanks to changes in the plan…
Adopt Louisiana’s coastal restoration blueprint: An editorial
Monday, March 26, 2012
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune
The state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority spent nearly three months listening to public input on its coastal master plan and making changes before voting unanimously this week to adopt it. Now the 50-year, $50 billion plan, which addresses both hurricane protection and coastal restoration, heads to the state Legislature, and lawmakers should adopt this important road map for our future…
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/03/adopt_louisianas_coastal_resto.html
St. Charles plans fight for west bank levee
Thursday, March 22, 2012
By Matt Scallan, The Times-Picayune
St. Charles Parish’s proposed west bank hurricane protection levee appears only as a pink squiggly line on a map in the state’s $50 billion Coastal Master Plan that a state panel adopted Wednesday…
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/st_charles_plans_fight_for_wes.html
Master plan approved by coastal board
Thursday, March 22, 2012
By Nikki Buskey, Daily Comet
The final version of the state’s master plan for coastal restoration and hurricane protection will contain new projects aimed at protecting lower Terrebonne and south Lafourche…
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120322/ARTICLES/120329829
Coastal protection plan headed to vote
Thursday, March 22, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
The fate of Louisiana’s 50-year, $50 billion master plan for coastal restoration and protection will soon be in the hands of the state Legislature…
http://theadvocate.com/home/2362321-125/coastal-protection-plan-headed-to
Coastal Plan Unanimously Passes in Louisiana
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
By Lauren Finnegan, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority unanimously approved a plan that aims to provide hurricane storm surge protection and coastal restoration for the state. The plan, if all aspects of it are implemented, will take 50 years to complete and coast the state $50 billion, according to the Times-Picayune. The next step is for it to be voted on by the Louisiana Legislature…
http://news.yahoo.com/coastal-plan-unanimously-passes-louisiana-212900783.html
Coastal authority approves 50-year, $50 billion master plan
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority today unanimously approved the 50-year, $50 billion five-year update of the state’s master plan for coastal restoration and hurricane storm surge protection, and sent it on to the Legislature. “Every community gets protection under this plan,” said authority chairman Garret Graves. “No one is left out and no one is left behind…”
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/03/coastal_authority_approves_50-.html
Terrebonne project, Bayou Chene floodgate added to Coastal Master Plan
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
By Mike Nixon, Tri-Parish Times
Public resistance to a proposed 2012 Coastal Master Plan, designed by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, has prompted changes to include building a permanentfloodgate on Bayou Chene and increasing marshland restoration activity in southeastern Terrebonne Parish. The original plan did not include these projects…
http://www.tri-parishtimes.com/news/article_2f50b560-7364-11e1-b107-001871e3ce6c.html
Coastal restoration plan is improvement for Slidell, Lafitte and the West Bank
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
By Cathy Hughes, The Times-Picayune
A revised state plan for hurricane protection and coastal restoration to be unveiled Wednesday will give new priority to major hurricane protection features for Slidell, Lafitte and the West Bank. It also attempts to allay the fears of local fishers who worry that freshwater diversions will destroy their livelihoods…
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/03/coastal_restoration_plan_is_im.html
Public input seems to pay off
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
By Houma Today
When state officials unveiled the new master coastal plan envisioning the next five decades of work, local folks raised concerns. Most notably, the master plan contained little in the way of land building in the most-populated parts of Terrebonne Parish…
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20120320/OPINION/120329989/-1/sports?p=2&tc=pg
Program would require contracts to consider only locals for coastal jobs
Sunday, March 18, 2012
By Jeremy Alford, Houma Today
A New Orleans lawmaker wants the state to create a new program that would require contracts to initially consider only local workers for regional coastal-restoration and hurricane-protection projects…
Public suggestions included in coastal restoration plan
Thursday, March 15, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
The state’s draft plan on how coastal restoration and protection will proceed in the next 50 years is going through some changes based on comments received by the public and others…
http://theadvocate.com/home/2310981-125/public-suggestions-included-in-coastal
How Spill Settlement Money from BP May Save the Gulf Coast
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
By Bryan Walsh, TIME
I was sitting shotgun in a speedboat chugging along veiny canals that cut through southern Louisiana’s coastline, during the Gulf oil spill in the summer of 2010. There was plenty to see that was out of the ordinary during that tragic summer, but I noticed something else a bit worrisome…
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2108843,00.html?xid=gonewsedit
Wild Side
Sunday, March 11, 2012
By Joe Macaluso, Advocate Outdoors writer
The attention “Turning the Tide” garnered goes hand in hand with a big win for our state last week when the U.S. Senate passed the Restore Act. It’s the first step for local and national groups that have pushed for…
http://theadvocate.com/columnists/2279501-55/wild-side.march-11-2012
BP’s $7.8 Billion Settlement of Deepwater Horizon Spill Does Nothing for Louisiana
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
By John Barry, The Daily Beast
BP’s agreement last Friday to settle nearly $8 billion worth of private claims stemming from the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 is commendable. But while it will help thousands of people get back on their feet, it does nothing to address the elephant in the room: the very survival of coastal Louisiana, which includes New Orleans, the largest port in the country, and three more of the nation’s biggest ports…
Much of Gulf Coast prepping for future flooding/storm surge
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
By David Ball, The Record Newspapers
Our neighbors to the east, the State of Louisiana, has had some unpleasant experiences with hurricanes as has Texas. The state government of Louisiana, however, is moving to do something about it so future hurricanes maybe won’t be as devastating as prior ones…
We must stand up for ourselves
Saturday, March 3, 2012
By Daily Comet
From health care and education to coastal protection and restoration, recent news out of our state capital paints a grim future for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. It demands the attention and the action of us all if we are to change that picture from grim to great…
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120303/OPINION/120309864?p=1&tc=pg
DU comments on Louisiana coast master plan
Friday, March 2, 2012
By Ducks Unlimited
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has issued a draft of Louisiana’s 2012 Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. After public input, the final plan will go to the legislature March 26 for approval…
Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign voices strong support for 2012 Coastal Master Plan
Thursday, March 1, 2012
By David Muth, National Wildlife Federation
On Feb. 25, seven organizations sent joint comments to the Coastal Protection and RestorationAuthority (CPRA), voicing strong support for the Draft 2012 Coastal Master Plan. The comments propose a number of ways we feel the master plan can be strengthened and a number of actions we believe the state should undertake going forward…
Bass’ arrival in Bayou Perot signals coming of needed change
Sunday, February 19, 2012
By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune
The marsh bass Sidney Bourgeois just pulled from the canal on the western shoreline of Bayou Perot on Wednesday morning was a real fatty, a broad-shouldered fighter showing a belly already sagging with the next generation, a burden that helped it top 3 pounds…
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2012/02/bass_arrival_in_bayou_perot_si.html
Working together to save Louisiana’s coast
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
By Billy Nungesser, NOLA.com
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s 2012 Master Plan has received a lot of attention and stirred many emotions. First and foremost, as the president of Plaquemines Parish, I endorse CPRA’s initiative in this regard…
http://blog.nola.com/opinions_impact/print.html?entry=/2012/02/working_together_to_save_louis.html
Gulf science institute picks top leaders
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
By Amy Wold, The Advocate
The Water Institute of the Gulf announced Tuesday its president and a board of directors — another step in an idea that has been discussed for years…
http://theadvocate.com/home/2056381-125/gulf-science-institute-picks-top.html
The Water Institute of the Gulf formed to coordinate research on restoring Louisiana coast
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
A new nonprofit science institute that will become the research arm of the state’s coastal-restoration program kicked off operations Tuesday with the appointment of a former director of the U.S. Geological Survey as its president and chief executive…
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/02/the_water_institute_of_the_gul.html
Coastal Master Plan draft stirs up sediment, controversy
Monday, February 13, 2012
By Paul Braun, LSU Reveille
The most comprehensive effort of coastal protection and restoration in Louisiana’s history may hit the state’s coastline within the year…
BP oil spill produced one good result — a focus on the Gulf
Sunday, February 12, 2012
By Sun Herald
No one, not even the most sunny-side-up Pollyanna, could look back on the BP oil spill and think it was, on balance, a good thing…
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/12/3745061/bp-oil-spill-produced-one-good.html
Nothing is final yet in coastal plan
Saturday, February 11, 2012
By Houma Today
When state officials showed up in Houmalast month to present a draft of the 50-year plan for Louisiana’s coast, they got a cool reception…
Coastal projects outlined
Thursday, February 9, 2012
By Jeff Zeringue, The Daily Iberian
Louisiana residents have until Feb. 25 to comment on the Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, a state scientist said…
Master plan could change under public scrutiny
Thursday, February 9, 2012
By Nikki Buskey, Daily Comet
State officials say a $50 billion draft plan for coastal protection and restoration that faced harsh criticism at a meeting in Terrebonne last month can be changed based on public comment…
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120209/ARTICLES/120209550
Coastal restoration, protection should concern all in Southwest Louisiana
Monday, February 6, 2012
By American Press
If there’s one clear message from area residents to the agency charged with preserving and restoring Southwest Louisiana’s coast and wetlands, it’s that we’re all in this together….
http://www.americanpress.com/AP-Editorial-2-7-12
Our Views: Get behind Louisiana coastal plan
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
By The Advocate
The sheer size of Louisiana’s coastal crisis has, in a perverse way, limited this state’s response to one of its most pressing challenges. The problem of coastal erosion is so big, with Louisiana losing at least 16 square miles of land each year, that politicians, policymakers and the general public couldn’t seem to get their hands around the task they faced — and how to tackle it…
http://theadvocate.com/home/1999151-125/our-views-get-behind-louisiana.html
Rebuilding Wetlands by Managing The Muddy Mississippi
February 2012
By Carolyn Gramling, Science Magazine
When spillways were opened to divert the fl ooding Mississippi last spring, scientists studying the waters sought data that might help restore the river’s eroding delta…
Click here to view a PDF of the article
Paradise withering
Saturday, February 4, 2012
By Kerry Luft, Chicago Tribune reporter
First came the hurricane, which poured 24 feet of water into his fishing and hunting lodge
and knocked out utilities for 8 1/2 months…
Consider the needs of coastal communities
Friday, February 3, 2012
By P.J. Hahn, Contributing Op-Ed columnist, NOLA.com
Current and historical land loss in coastal Louisiana confirms that Louisiana is in a crisis for which emergency action must be taken. The Coastal Protection andRestoration Authority’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan is one of the many proactive steps the state of Louisiana has taken since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita toorganize and focus our efforts on a crisis of national significance…
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/02/consider_the_needs_of_coastal.html
Author’s speech blends La. environment, economy, history
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
By Gordon Brillon, The Daily Reveille
Students got a historical perspective on Louisiana’s energy and environmental situation from University alumnus and Harvard Kennedy School fellow Jason Theriot, who spoke Monday to a crowd of about 100 in the Holliday Forum of the Journalism Building…
GULF OF MEXICO: ‘Restoration’ is a shifty word on the bayou
Monday, January 30, 2012
By Paul Voosen, E&E reporter
One of the early efforts proposed to help Louisiana recover from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the plan piggybacks on existing construction, adding 100 acres of marsh east of a shallow lake nestled between the Mississippi River and Barataria Bay….
http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2012/01/30/1
Views collide at meeting on state’s coastal plan
Monday, January 30, 2012
By Susan Buchanan, The Louisiana Weekly
An open house held by the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in New Orleans last week on a draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan drew mixed, earnest and sometimes vehement comments…
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/views-collide-at-meeting-on-state%e2%80%99s-coastal-plan/
Island left out of plan
Monday, January 30, 2012
By Amy Wold, Advocate Staff Writer
When Chris Chaisson, 28 of Pointe-Aux-Chenes, stood up to comment on the state’s plan for coastal protection and restoration, he became very emotional.
http://theadvocate.com/home/1887679-125/island-left-out-of-plan.html
They were right
Saturday, January 28, 2012
By Keith Magill, Executive Editor
Residents’ and politicians’ outrage over the state’s latest plan to limit damage from hurricanes and an eroding coast was understandable and predictable…
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20120129/OPINION01/120129585/1026/news01?Title=They-were-right
The Mississippi River Delta Must Be Restored
Friday, January 27, 2012
By Randy Fertel, The New York Times
The Mississippi River Delta loses the equivalent of a football field of marshland every hour as it melts into the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/opinion/the-mississippi-river-delta-must-be-restored.html?_r=2
State plan is a place to start
Friday, January 27, 2012
By The Houma Today
A public-information session and public meeting Tuesday turned up some negative comments about the state’s recently released master coastal plan.
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20120127/OPINION/120129660/-1/opinion?p=1&tc=pg
New Orleans Protection Plan Will Rely on Wetlands to Hold Back Hurricanes
Thursday, January 26, 2012
By Mark Fischetti, Scientific American
More than six years after Hurricane Katrina plowed into New Orleans and the Mississippi River delta, a plan has finally emerged to protect the area from future storms. It relies heavily on the restoration of wetlands to cut down high surges ofocean water like those that flooded the city in 2005—somewhat of a surprise, considering past efforts focused on levees and seawalls.
Coastal Louisiana Master Plan released
Thursday, January 26, 2012
By Dr. Bill Dennison, Integration & Application Network
Coastal Louisiana has experienced considerable land loss over the past century due to relative sea level rise. This land loss has led to increased vulnerability to storm surges, as dramatically illustrated when storm surges from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wrecked havoc on Louisiana in 2005.
http://ian.umces.edu/blog/2012/01/26/coastal-louisiana-master-plan-released/
Public hearing held for $1.1 billion Louisiana levee
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By Olivia Vidal, KPLCTV
LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) – A public hearing regarding plans to protect Louisiana’s fragile coastline is in effect at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
http://www.kplctv.com/story/16511738/11-billion-levee-around-lake-charles-part-of-bold-proposal
Residents, officials speak mind about coastal restoration master plan
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By John Guidroz, American Press
Southwest Louisiana residents and officials gave a clear message Wednesday to state officials regarding a 50-year, $50 billion coastal restoration draft masterplan: include shoreline protection for Cameron Parish.
http://www.americanpress.com/news/local/coastal-meeting-story
Master plan forgets bayou communities, residents say
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By Nikki Buskey, Houma Today
The state’s new 50-year, $50 billion draft plan for coastal protection and restoration does not do enough to replace rapidly disappearing marshes in eastern Terrebonnethat protect bayou communities, residents told state officials Tuesday.
St. Charles Parish west bank levee omitted from state’s coastal restoration plan
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By Matt Scallan, The Times-Picayune
A wide-ranging plan to protect and restore Louisiana’s coastline doesn’t include St. Charles Parish’s planned west bank hurricane levee, and parish officials fear the parish’s west bank will be more vulnerable to storms than before.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/01/st_charles_parish_west_bank_le.html
Take the long view on Louisiana’s coastal restoration plan: An editorial
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune
Louisiana’s first public hearing on its proposed 50-year master plan for coastal restoration and protection, held in New Orleans Monday, drew criticism from fishers who oppose large diversions of freshwater and sediment because they fear damage to their industry. The master plan offers speculative land-building at the cost of saltwater species, they argued.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/
Master plan forgets bayou communities, residents say
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
By Houma Today
The state’s new 50-year, $50 billion draft plan for coastal protection and restoration does not do enough to replace rapidly disappearing marshes in eastern Terrebonne that protect bayou communities, attendees at a Houma meeting told state officials Tuesday.
Coastal Master Plan Draws Critics, And Some Praise
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
By Eileen Fleming, WWNO
The draft report includes 145 projects designed to protect coastal communities and restore land, possibly building more than is lost to erosion for the first time since the 1930s.
Tough choices in new plan to restore coast
Monday, January 23, 2012
By Zoe Sullivan, The Louisiana Weekly
Southern Louisiana residents know that the ground under their feet has been moving, and in areas, disappearing. Hurricanes and tropical storms have been eating away at the coast’s protective marshlands, which levees have cut off from the river’s sediment, which would maintain and build the land. Yet figuring out how to stop this destruction and reverse the process provokes ire amongfisher folk, the shipping industry and others.
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/tough-choices-in-new-plan-to-restore-coast/
State coastal restoration, levee master plan revision subject of public meeting
Monday, January 23, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
State officials will brief members of the public on the draft of the 5-year revision of the Louisiana Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast during a public meeting and hearing today at the Lindy C. Boggs International Conference Center at the University of New Orleans.
http://mobile.nola.com/advnola/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=DISTQsqK&full=true#display
Fishers say coastal master plan could destroy their livelihoods
Monday, January 23, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Fishers from St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes on Monday night objected to thereliance of the state’s proposed $50 billion, 50-year coastal restoration and protection master plan on large diversions of freshwater and sediment, charging that the freshwater will destroy their ability to catch shrimp and saltwater fish species.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/01/fishermen_object_to_large_dive.html
Master plan for coastal restoration gives hope
Sunday, January 22, 2012
By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune
We need to discuss two words today: Hope and courage. In almost 40 years of covering the state’s coastal crisis, “hope” is a word I’ve seldom been able to write. There were decades when the state refused to even acknowledge we had problem. There were political leaders who refused to address the forces responsible. And there was a population that refused to get involved. So it was little wonder during that time the Gulf of Mexico moved within eye-shot of our major cities, or that the groundwork was laid for a disaster named Katrina.
But last week, finally, we got hope. It’s called “Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast” — aka the 2012 Master Plan. It’s a $50 billion blueprint for keeping our starving, sinking deltas livable in 50 years…
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2012/01/master_plan_for_coastal_restor.html
Come out, learn and contribute
Saturday, January 21, 2012
By Daily Comet
The sea of red splashed across south Louisiana represents the land that will be lost in the next 50 years if nothing more is done to protect our coast.
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120121/OPINION/120129937?Title=Come-out-learn-and-contribute
The Louisiana Master Plan launches us into the future: Where will we land?
Thursday, January 19, 2012
By Scott Eustis, Gulf Restoration Network
Restoring Louisiana’s wetlands, North America’s Great Delta, is a national issue, and Louisiana has taken a leadership role. We are excited that Louisiana is ramping up piecemeal projects into larger scale restoration that truly addresses the crisis, and is pursuing a long-term vision that reconnects the Mississippi River with its Delta and protects coastal communities from the Gulf of Mexico.
The 50 Year, $50 billion Plan to Save the Louisiana Coast
Friday, January 20, 2012
By Bob Marshall, The Conservationist
Louisiana released its long-awaited master plan to permanently address the nation’s most severe fish, wildlife and economic disaster: The destruction of the great Mississippi River estuary and the rest of the state’s coast.
Writing the Rule That Will Rebuild the Bayou – With Carbon
January 19, 2012
By Molly Peters-Stanley, Ecosystem Marketplace
When Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge – the highest in recorded history at 27.8 feet – hit New Orleans’ St. Bernard Parish in August, 2005, the floodwaters breached levies and poured in first from the north and the east.
Louisiana coastal plan: 5 decades and $50 billion
Thursday, January 19, 2012
By Mike Hasten, The Town Talk
A proposed new master plan for protecting and restoring Louisiana’s coast won’t make everybody happy, says the chairman of state panel charged with that task, but it’s a plan that can protect the state from further ruin from storms.
Coastal plan worthy of support
Thursday, January 19, 2012
By Don Shoopman, The Daily Iberian
As always, the local angle is the preferred one for The Daily Iberian, especially when it deals with the valuable Louisiana coast line in the Teche Area.
Panel requires changes to plan for saving coast
Thursday, January 19, 2012
BY Amy Wold, staff writer
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority members from southwest Louisiana and Plaquemines Parish said Wednesday they could not support the state’s new draft master plan to save the coast without changes to it.
http://theadvocate.com/home/1739885-125/panel-requires-changes-to-plan.html
Plaquemines Parish officials criticize state’s plan to save the coast
Thursday, January 19, 2012
By WWL-TV (Credit: AP)
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority members from Plaquemines Parish are criticizing the state’s new draft master plan to save the coast.
Coastal plan spans decades
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
By Mike Hasten, The News Star
A proposed master plan for protecting and restoring Louisiana’s coast won’t make everybody happy, says Garret Graves, chairman of state panel charged with the task, but it’s a plan that can protect the state from further ruin from storms.
Coastal Protection Authority releases Master Plan to repair state’s coastline
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
By Vermillion Today
Having a plan is a great way to begin any project; having funds is a great way to complete a project.
http://vermiliontoday.com/view/full_story/17200094/article-Coastal-Protection-Authority-releases-Master-Plan-to-repair-state’s-coastline?instance=secondary_news_left_column
Draft of 5-year coastal approach coming to Houma
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
By Eric Besson, Tri-Parish Times
The state agency in charge of prioritizing coastal restoration and protection projects will submit a draft of its five-year master plan for public reviewlater this month in Houma.
http://www.tri-parishtimes.com/news/article_1ed9cb49-df4d-54d0-8703-ccff2236bfdf.html
Comment on coastal plan
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
By HoumaToday.com
The state has released its updated master plan on coastal restoration and hurricane protection for public review. The draft is available at www.coastalmasterplan.la.gov. You can comment on the plan online through Feb. 25…
Louisiana’s updated coastal restoration plan is a map to the future: An editorial
Sunday, January 15, 2012
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune
The state’s update plan for coastal restoration lays out two vastly different pictures of the future for Louisiana — one dire, one hopeful. In the first, nothing is done to combat the complex forces that have already caused this state to lose 1,883 squaremiles of land since the 1930s…
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/01/louisianas_updated_coastal_res.html
Coastal study proposes several projects for Southwest Louisiana
Saturday, January 14, 2012
By John Guidroz, American Press
Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast” is a 170-plus page document that outlines coastal protection projects throughout the state. It is a revised version of a plan released in 2007 and requires approval by the state Legislature…
http://www.americanpress.com/news/local/projects-for-Southwest-Louisiana
What a dilemma
Saturday, January 14, 2012
By Keith Magill, Executive Editor, Houma Today
What impressed me most as I read the state’s latest plan to save its coast is the map. A sea of red, representing an encroaching Gulf of Mexico, consumes almost every inch of every inhabited community south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. And the parts that are left within 50 years look like they would flood so often it would make them impractical to inhabit…
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20120114/OPINION01/120119722/1098/opinion?Title=What-a-dilemma
Don’t miss your chance
Friday, January 13, 2012
By Reggie Dupre Jr., Guest Columnist, Daily Comet
The state’s 2012 update to the coastal plan was released Thursday. With so many plans and public meetings held in our area over the past decade, I wanted to take the time to stress how important it is for our region to not fall victim to plan fatigue, especially knowing how much this particular plan will shape the future of Terrebonne and Lafourche for the next five very formative years…
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20120113/ARTICLES/120119756?Title=Don-t-miss-your-chance
Louisiana Releases 2012 Coastal Master Plan to Address Erosion Crisis
Friday, January 13, 2012
By Ocean Power Magazine
Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost land the size of Delaware—about 1880 square miles. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, if this trend continues, Louisiana will lose a wetland area larger than the size of Manhattan every year.
Plan to save coast released
Friday, January 13, 2012
By Claire Taylor, The Advertiser
In as little as 30 years, Louisiana could be gaining land along its coast instead of losing it, Kirk Rhinehart, chief of planning with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, said Friday…
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/theadvertiser/access/2560555961.html?FMT=ABS&date=Jan+14%2C+2012
Master coastal plan positive
Friday, January 13, 2012
By Amy Wold, Advocate Staff Writer
Over the years, there’s been no shortage of reports and planning about how to slow or stop the loss of coastal wetlands in Louisiana, but on Thursday the state released a different sort of plan…
http://theadvocate.com/home/1669127-125/master-coastal-plan-positive.html
Bold plan proposed to save coastal Louisiana
Friday, January 13, 2012
By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A $50 billion, 50-year proposal aspires to stop coastal land loss in Louisiana, build new levee systems to protect cities and even begin to slowly reverse the trend of eroding marsh that has turned the entire southern portion of the state into one of the nation’s most vulnerable regions to sea level rise…
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/bold_plan_proposed_to_save_coastal_louisiana/singleton/
State picks winners and losers in new coastal plan
Thursday, January 12, 2012
By John Snell, Fox 8 TV Anchor
New Orleans, LA – The State of Louisiana launched the most detailed, and in some ways, most ambitious plan yet to rebuild its coastline…
Louisiana coastal restoration 50-year blueprint released
Thursday, January 12, 2012
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Declaring Louisiana’s loss of coastal wetlands “nothing short of a national emergency,” state officials today released a $50 billion, 50-year strategy for rebuilding land and increasingprotection from storm surge for coastal communities that they say can be paid for with money the state is reasonably sure it will receive…
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/01/louisiana_releases_50-year_blu.html
$1.1 billion levee around Lake Charles part of bold proposal
Thursday, January 12, 2012
By David Bray, KPLCTV
Governor Jindal’s coast team announced Thursday in New Orleans plans for a bold 50-year $50 billion program to protect Louisiana’s fragile coastline which includes a $1.1 billion levee to built around Lake Charles…
http://www.kplctv.com/story/16511738/11-billion-levee-around-lake-charles-part-of-bold-proposal
La. coastal restoration plan has fishermen concerned
Thursday, January 12, 2012
By Evan Anderson, Fox 8 Live Reporter
Since the state laid out an elaborate new plan aimed at rebuilding the state’s coastline, it has raised red flags for many people in the fishing industry…
2012 Coastal Master Plan, some say best in years
Thursday, January 12, 2012
By WWL-TV
On Thursday, the state will release its 2012 Coastal Master Plan, and some observers might say this is the best plan devised in years…
Feliz Cumpleaños
The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority today unanimously approved the 50-year, $50 billion five-year update of the state’s master plan for coastal restoration and hurricane storm surge protection, and sent it on to the Legislature. “Every community gets protection under this plan,” said authority chairman Garret Graves. “No one is left out and no one is left behind.”