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House Gulf Caucus Moves to Secure BP Oil Spill Money for Restoration

By Brian Moore, National Audubon Society

A bipartisan group of legislators has come together to form the new House Gulf Coast Caucus. The group of eleven lawmakers from the Gulf Coast region is co-chaired by Reps. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Kathy Castor (D-FL). The group met for the first time during the last week of May to discuss how best to secure Clean Water Act penalty money for the Gulf of Mexico region. Currently in the House of Representatives, there are several legislative proposals aimed at directing the billions of dollars BP is expected to pay in penalties as a result of last summer's oil spill. Gulf Coast lawmakers are concerned that unless they act, the penalty money — potentially billions of dollars, given the size of the spill — will flow into the U.S. Treasury and be spent elsewhere.

Continue reading this story here.

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Beginning of Hurricane Season: A Renewed Call for Restoration

By Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is predicting an above-average hurricane season, which began on June 1, so communities along Louisiana’s coast are bracing for yet another possible disaster. The historic Mississippi River floodwaters have barely begun to recede. Additionally, the Gulf is still recovering from last summer’s devastating BP oil disaster. These tragic events, in addition to the ongoing rapid land loss along Louisiana’s coast during the last eight decades, continue making the state’s coastal communities and cities vulnerable to disaster.

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Myrtle Grove Diversion Modeling Reveals New Information on Land-building Potential

By Maura Wood, National Wildlife Federation

The Myrtle Grove Medium Diversion is one of five highest priority near-term Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) restoration projects authorized by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. It is also one of a handful of projects authorized with the express authority to make changes in the project to respond to the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This opens the opportunity to modify Myrtle Grove to divert sediment and build land.

In order to examine modifications and how they might improve (or not) the benefits and impacts of the project, the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR) and several non-profit conservation organizations entered into a unique collaboration to undertake an extensive data-gathering and modeling initiative. The purpose of the modeling was to bring the best science and modeling into the planning process, to modify the diversion to capture sediment and build land, and to answer stakeholder questions.

A body of results from this effort was released on June 7 at a science workshop organized by the National Wildlife Federation and OCPR titled “Developing a Scientific Approach for Sediment Diversions: Myrtle Grove as a Model of Data Collection, Modeling, and Design." Eighty-seven people, including scientists, academics and agency representatives, NGOs, contracting firms and stakeholders, participated in the session.

Continue reading this story here.

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Faces of the Delta: Chris Dier

In the second installment of our Faces of the Delta series, you will meet Chris Dier: Wetlands restoration advocate, Chalmette resident, and Louisiana culture enthusiast.

Name: Chris Dier

Location: Chalmette, Louisiana

Occupation: Student, University of New Orleans

Tell me about your connection to south Louisiana. I was born in New Orleans East and raised in Chalmette until age 17. My family moved to East Texas after Katrina, but moved back in 2006 to live in a FEMA trailer and rebuild our old house in Chalmette in 2007.

What does south Louisiana mean to you? South Louisiana means “home.” It means everything to me. One of the reasons I get so involved in the community is because it means the world to me. I love the diversity and culture.

Continue reading Chris's story here.

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Meet Stephanie Powell

Stephanie is the field director for the joint Mississippi River Delta restoration campaign. She is responsible for running the field operations of the campaign, including writing and implementing a national field plan, contributing strategic and political analysis and working with staff to build grassroots support for restoration efforts.

Before joining the campaign, Stephanie was the executive director of the Southern Energy Network, a regional organization dedicated to working with youth to combat climate change, advance renewable energy and promote a smart, just energy economy. Previously, she worked for the Gulf Restoration Network, where she organized community members to help protect wetlands, stop water pollution, and minimize the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

Continue reading this story here.