Seven months after the release of a national survey that showed most Americans did not believe a tsunami-like disaster could happen on U.S. soil, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has painted a more sobering picture. Louisiana’s wetlands represent 30 percent of the coastal wetlands in the lower 48, but 90 percent of the coastal wetland loss. This vast, disappearing region has historically served as a natural speed bump for hurricanes and the storm surge they produce.
The state’s wetlands protect the world’s largest port system by tonnage and the infrastructure responsible for transporting 30 percent of the oil and natural gas consumed in the United States. In addition, coastal Louisiana provides essential habitat for animal, plant and marine species. Yet these protective wetlands have been disappearing at the rate of 24 square miles per year, leaving low-lying areas dangerously exposed to major storms.
“Because of continuing land loss, many of coastal Louisiana’s populated areas, including New Orleans, are almost completely exposed to the Gulf of Mexico,” said Valsin A. Marmillion, a spokesperson for America’s WETLAND: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana. “The sad irony of the situation is that the Mississippi River levees, which were constructed to protect lives in the 1930’s have had the unintended consequence of laying waste to the very wetlands that are the state’s greatest natural protection.”
Since the levees were built, more than 1,900 square miles of wetlands have disappeared from the area. The projected loss over the next 50 years, with current restoration efforts taken into account, is estimated to be approximately 500 square miles.
“These wetlands are our first line of defense from hurricanes — for every 2.7 miles of wetlands, storm surges are reduced by about one 1 foot,” said Sidney Coffee, Executive Assistant for the Governor for Coastal Activities. “As revealed by the extensive impact of Katrina, we are out of time and need everyone to recognize that restoration efforts must begin immediately.”
Testifying recently before the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, America’s WETLAND Foundation Chairman King Milling offered a prophetic message: “The consequences which will flow from a failure to act timely and in a meaningful fashion will be felt not only by hundreds of thousands of citizens in Louisiana and those living and working in the immediate region, but by the country as a whole.”
Experts have estimated that $14 billion is needed to fund a variety of projects that will restore and rebuild coastal Louisiana, including fresh water reintroduction, barrier island restoration, sediment diversion and vegetative planting.
“We have to quit meeting and get on with the business of having an immediate interim response for the integrity and security of New Orleans and surrounding areas, due to Katrina,” said Mark Davis, Executive Director of Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “We must set our sights on a serious endgame for real protection, integrated with conservation and restoration.”
“Here, lives and livelihoods are intertwined with the wetlands. We need healthy wetlands for our communities and culture to survive,” said Randy Lanctot, Executive Director, Louisiana Wildlife Federation.
America’s WETLAND: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana was launched to raise public awareness of the impact of Louisiana’s wetland loss on the state, nation and world. The initiative is supported by a growing coalition of world, national and state conservation and environmental organizations and has drawn private support from businesses that see wetlands protection as a key to economic growth and sustainability.
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