Wetland scientists predict an additional 600,000-900,000 acres will be lost in the next 40-50 years if no action is taken.

If coastal restoration action does not address Louisiana’s land loss crisis, the future of coastal communities is bleak. Seafood landings will decline, oil and gas exploration and production infrastructure investments will be lost, and tourism opportunities will dwindle. Additionally, rural communities and urban centers located near the Gulf Coast (such as New Orleans, Houma and Lake Charles) will become much more vulnerable to tidal surges from tropical storms and hurricanes.

Many coastal planners believe some coastal communities will have to relocate north, leaving many Louisiana parishes with declining populations and unsustainable economies. Traditional natural resource-related jobs in commercial fishing, trapping, alligator hunting, and sport hunting and fishing enterprises will become more at risk, and the ability of state and local governments to deliver vital public services will be challenged. Overall coastal infrastructure losses could easily end up being in the billions of dollars.

Additionally, increased coastal risks may hinder business investments, reduce property values and ultimately result in the decline of Louisiana’s unique, wetland-dependent culture made up of Acadians (Cajuns), eastern Europeans, Chinese, Italians, Spanish, Africans, Filipinos and American Indians, to name a few.

The good news is that restoration actions can be implemented to slow Louisiana’s coastal wetland loss rate. Recommended actions include:

The cost of these actions will be high, but the cost of taking no action is much higher. Restoration actions that ensure sustainable fish and wildlife resources will protect natural resource-linked jobs. Restored coastal vegetated wetlands will enhance storm surge protection and reduce infrastructure risk. Protected/restored privately owned coastal wetlands will maintain their value and continue to help provide property tax revenues vital to local government-delivered services.

The concern of Louisiana citizens and landowners was clearly heard in 1989 (before the passage of CWPPRA) when an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution establishing a dedicated Wetlands Trust Fund for coastal wetlands restoration was overwhelmingly approved in a special voter referendum by a 3:1 margin. Through this constitutional amendment, up to $25 million per year in state oil and gas lease payments, royalties and severance tax collections were dedicated toward wetlands restoration in coastal Louisiana.

The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (Public Law 101-646, Title III-CWPPRA), which was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 1990, addressed wetlands loss nationally with a primary focus on coastal Louisiana’s serious wetland loss challenges. The Act directed that a Task Force consisting of representatives of five federal agencies and Louisiana develop a "comprehensive approach to restore and prevent the loss of coastal wetlands in Louisiana." These five agencies include the Department of the Army, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture.

Through CWPPRA (which requires up to a 25% state match), an additional $35 million per year was dedicated to help restore and protect Louisiana’s coastal wetlands. Louisiana’s Wetlands Trust Fund provides the state’s matching requirement. Potential restoration project investments, therefore, can exceed $40 million per year through CWPPRA and state matching funding.

As mandated by CWPPRA, the Task Force developed a detailed Coastal Wetlands Restoration Plan in 1993 that describes what restoration actions/projects should be implemented to address Louisiana’s coastal land loss crisis. A Priority Project List is developed and approved by the Task Force each year, outlining which projects will receive CWPPRA funding. Throughout the CWPPRA process, the public has provided critical input into restoration goals, strategies and plan implementation.

Another key component of CWPPRA is the development by the state of a Coastal Wetland Conservation Plan that assures "no-net-loss" of coastal wetlands caused by development activities. Once a Conservation Plan is developed and approved by the secretary of the Army, administrator of EPA and the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state-required CWPPRA match will be reduced. The reduction of the state matching requirement is quite an incentive for conservation plan development and implementation.

As of January 1997, more than $200 million in federal and state funding had been authorized and approved for coastal restoration actions. CWPPRA was authorized for only a 10-year period, and initial authorization will end in 1997 with much more work to be done.

In an effort to reverse Louisiana’s long-term coastal land loss trend, effective large- and small-scale restoration projects with a high degree of potential success must continue to be implemented. These include (1) barrier island and shoreline restoration to protect against storms, (2) sediment and freshwater diversions to nourish deteriorated marshes, (3) vegetative plantings to buffer erosion and (4) hydrologic restoration to re-establish freshwater flow patterns. Projects must be monitored to assure that the intended benefits are achieved. Additionally, projects that demonstrate new and innovative restoration techniques must be approved.

Public support, commitment and action are crucial to successful restoration of coastal Louisiana. Citizens should get involved by:

Louisiana’s 3.5 million acres of coastal wetlands represent about 40 percent of all of the coastal wetlands in the continental United States. These wetlands are extremely valuable to all citizens, not only because of their commercial, recreational and cultural values, but also because of the biological and physical process benefits they provide to coastal communities, the state and the nation. Important coastal wetland functions include:

Coastal wetland habitats in Louisiana serve as the foundation for a $1 billion seafood industry, a $200 million sport hunting industry, a $14 million alligator industry, valuable fur resources, wild crawfish resources, hardwood timber and commercial livestock rangelands that equate to thousands of jobs crucial to the economies of many coastal communities. Numerous species of nonharvested fish and wildlife resources also depend directly on healthy coastal wetland ecosystems.

State oil and gas severance tax collections, in large part generated from exploration and production activities conducted in Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, exceed $500 million annually. These tax revenues help the state provide vital community services such as roads, education and public health needs.

Because of the alteration of several important coastal wetland processes over the past 75-80 years, Louisiana has lost more than 600,000 acres of coastal vegetated wetlands and is now losing coastal wetlands at an annual rate of more than 25-35 square miles per year (20,000-25,000 acres per year).

Processes that have had the most significant impact include: