Should important endangered species habitat be destroyed for better yachting?
The SunWest/Pasco mega-channel permit application for a 4.86 mile long, 85 foot wide dredge channel cut through the seagrass of Fillman’s Bayou on the Nature Coast is currently being considered by Army Corps of Engineers. Your help is needed to protect the largest intact coastal ecosystem in Florida. Left undisturbed, these productive seagrass beds provide vital nursery and feeding habitat for many threatened and economically important Gulf species, including economically important game fish and endangered manatees.
We believe the potential destructive impact to the manatee population should this deep channel dredging occur is inevitable, despite the conclusion by US Fish & Wildlife that no incidental harm or take of manatees is likely to occur. A recent citizen poll submitted to ACOE supports common knowledge from local residents and boaters that manatees are foraging, mating and birthing in Fillman’s Bayou.
Louisiana’s “Moderate” relative sea-level rise scenario depends on drastic and swift cuts to the carbon pollution fueling global warming.
We in Louisiana have hung our hopes on the State’s Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, which has integrated protective levees and prudent elevation of our homes with coastal wetland restoration in order to sustain our coastal economy.
But how can we hope to sustain any amount of our low-lying land in the face of sea level rise?
Sunday I met with Katie Brasted of Woodlands Conservancy and showed Shannon Dosemagen from Public Laboratory.org recent efforts to restore Louisiana’s Coastal Forests on the westbank of the Mississippi. The Bottomland Hardwoods of Woodlands Conservancy are some of the southernmost coastal wetland forests along the mainstem of the Mississippi River—most of the former forested areas have been bulldozed for urban development, destroyed by saltwater from the MRGO, or leveled by Katrina’s awesome winds and surge. We took to the skies via a camera attached to a weather balloon, to monitor the recovery of the woodlands along the trail.
Once a cypress swamp, the entire peninsula has been drastically drained since the establishment of a suburban golf course and subdivision. Cypress trees grow perched several feet into the air, their roots exposed by pump-induced subsidence. The perched trees did not fare well in Katrina’s tremendous winds. We saw many signs of recovery, although in places the invasive Chinese tallow threatens many young oak and cypress saplings that have been replanted by scores of volunteer groups since 2009.
On Monday, I led a documentary crew on a boat tour down to heavily impacted areas in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. We embarked on our journey from Delta Marine in Empire, Louisiana and made our way west passing through Bay Atlas, No Man’s Land, Lake Washington, Lake Grand Ecaille then northwest into Bay Jimmy. After stepping off the boat and into the marsh to show the cameras BP’s oil in its various states (crust, tar balls, tar mats, liquid) we then ventured southeast past Big Island and into Cat Bay where I showed them the serious erosion problems on the Cat Island pelican rookery. We were also lucky enough to be visited by several dolphins that put on quite a show for us as we coasted along for a few miles at a slow pace. We eventually made our way back to Empire and then continued the rest of our day interviewing a couple of locals before embarking on a trawling trip aboard a shrimp boat out of Port Sulphur.
The Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast has been finalized and passed by the legislature, after almost three years of examining data and running computer models, and another year of a public comment and conflict resolution. This is Louisiana's Hail Mary pass, our imperfect, best, last shot at turning the tide of our coastal crisis.
But before the ink on the plan has dried, it faces great challenges. We at GRN have watched while coal terminals have expanded across the country, as the United States moves away from burning this dirty fuel. These coal terminals have grown into mountains in Plaquemines parish. And RAM Terminals, LLC, is threatening to place another mountain of coal just upstream from the mouth of the Myrtle Grove project.
We need to put the River to work building healthy wetlands in Louisiana, but a river full of coal runoff cannot build healthy wetlands. Coal runoff has PAHs, heavy metals, and other toxins that will cripple the health of the existing marshes, as well as compromise whatever wetlands the restoration project seeks to build.
NOAA may be scrubbing the record of the BP disaster and suppressing documentation of the impact on turtles and whales. This possibility was revealed by Greenpeace this week, thanks to photos released by NOAA due to a FOIA submitted as part of GP's Polluter Watch project, which also release hundreds of aerial impact shots last month.
34 of the photos are available on this HuffPost slide show.
Many of the photos are not currently available on official agency flickr or photo sites.
This article is excerpted from Wave Maker's News, our quarterly update on all things water in the Gulf of Mexico, check out the full newsletter here.
Rainbow River spring head during a low flow event. Photo courtesy of SWFWMD.Florida may be surrounded by water, but providing clean, fresh drinking water for a growing population and competing interests groups while still protecting the environment is a constant struggle. In response to this challenge, Florida law requires that the state’s five water management district establish minimum flow and levels (MFLs) for waterways in their district that prevent “significant ecological harm.”
Basically, MFLs define how often and for how long high, average and low water levels and/or flows should be allowed to occur in lakes, rivers, streams, springs and estuaries. While allowing for flexibility and change, the ultimate goal of MFLs is to prevent long-term or irreversible ecological damage. Setting MFLs at high enough levels to sustain or replenish ecosystems is critical to the health of Florida’s waters.
What will happen once we FINALLY start seeing funding for ecosystem restoration in the Gulf region? Since the oil disaster began, the environmental community has been rightfully focused on funding to address oil impacts as well as broader ecosystem restoration. And we’ve spent time and brainpower thinking about what types of projects will best address the challenges we face on the Gulf Coast.
Now that it’s looking like the RESTORE Act will make it through Congress (fingers crossed), and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment is progressing, we have the opportunity to take a step back and think about the big picture of Gulf restoration, and how we can work together as a community to achieve our vision for a healthy and vibrant Gulf and coastal communities into the future.
This week Ocean Conservancy held a webinar and an in-person workshop to start the conversation about some of the big picture items that will help ensure that what we are doing today will get us to where we want the Gulf to be in 10 or 20 or 50 years. Without guideposts and blueprint for success we run the risk of losing this unprecedented opportunity to address both oil impacts and long term degradation in the Gulf.
Once you've watched the video, head here to send your support to Washington DC and demand that Congress act now to protect and restore the Gulf of Mexico.
As the second weekend of NOLA's beloved Jazz Fest kicks off, GRN has a challenge for you. Watch our video commemorating the 2nd memorial of the BP drilling disaster, shot at and around the 2011 Voodoo Experience, and tell us how many of the artists featured in the video are playing the 2012 Jazz Fest.
While we don't think it's that hard to pick out the fantastic musicians holding "Restore the Gulf" or "Hold BP Accountable" placards, and compare them to the cubes, you CAN head here if you need some help identifying our friends.
Once you've got your answer, leave it in the comments, and we'll let you know if (and what) you've won.
Aaron Viles is GRN's Deputy Director. You can follow him on twitter here.You can find him Sunday enjoying Foo Fighters on the Acura Stage (hint, Foo Fighters are not in the video... That's the Sheepdogs).
Louisiana’s “Moderate” relative sea-level rise scenario depends on drastic and swift cuts to the carbon pollution fueling global warming.
NOAA may be scrubbing the record of the BP disaster and suppressing documentation of the impact on turtles and whales. This possibility was revealed by Greenpeace this week, thanks to photos released by NOAA due to a FOIA submitted as part of GP's 
