Archive for Meetings/Events
Reshaping a Greater New Orleans: Rebuilding Our Coast
May 18, 2012 | Posted by Elizabeth Skree in Meetings/EventsThis story was originally published on WYES.org.
Can Louisiana’s Coast Be Saved?
The state says it can and that it has a plan to protect and restore the imperiled Louisiana coast.
Tune in as experts discuss the planned projects, their costs, and their chances for success.
Watch RESHAPING A GREATER NEW ORLEANS: REBUILDING OUR COAST Sunday, May 20 at 8:00 p.m. Repeats Thursday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m., Friday, May 25 at 10 p.m., and Sunday, May 27 at noon.
The State of Louisiana is finalizing the Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast which will serve as a blueprint for protecting and preserving the Louisiana coast. Learn more about what will be done to stop the loss of our wetlands and barrier islands when coastal experts Dr. Denise Reed, University of New Orleans; Dr. Robert Thomas, Loyola University New Orleans; Mark Davis, Tulane University join WYES Director of Local Initiatives Marcia Kavanaugh to discuss how the Master Plan will impact coastal communities and industries.
Also, check out our web project where you can learn how to become part of the coastal rebuilding effort at http://www.wyes.org/reshapingnola/.
This web project also offers an opportunity to hear first-hand from those working on restoration plans and projects, and much more.
No CommentsChristian Marsh – Be a part of Louisiana’s next restoration success story
May 10, 2012 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in Meetings/Events, People, Restoration ProjectsThis was originally posted on the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana's Coast Currents blog.
By Scott Madere, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
If it’s one thing we can count on at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL), it’s the hard work and enthusiasm of our volunteers. Since our Community Based Restoration Program was created in 2000, more than 8,000 volunteers have joined us on the front lines of our coast, directly restoring 3,600 acres of wetlands.
Terraces like this one in Christian Marsh are simple earthen barriers, that, when coordinated, can break up waves that threaten vulnerable areas of coast.
Next week marks a new chapter in CRCL volunteer history as we take on quite possibly our biggest project ever. On May 14, 17, 18 and 19, CRCL volunteers will plant nearly 40,000 plants along newly constructed marsh terraces to help prevent further erosion and to stabilize the soil in these newly-created marsh features.
So what is a marsh terrace? Simply put, marsh terraces are earthen barriers created to reduce the impact of wind and waves on marsh that is under threat of severe erosion. They are often arranged in patterns where the terraces overlap each other to diffuse wave action on the shoreline.
This is Christian Marsh from above. The patterns of terracing are deliberately designed to be as close to natural formation as possible.
For the past year, CRCL, the Rainey Alliance and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana have been constructing terraces to protect the fragile wetlands of Christian Marsh. All totaled, CRCL and its partners have placed 25,000 linear feet of terraces. That’s 83 football fields of coastal barrier for Christian Marsh! But just like any earth feature, these terraces are themselves vulnerable to wave action and wind erosion.
That’s where you come in.
The planting activities we have scheduled for the week of May 14 are designed to bolster these terraces and hold them in place. We need as many volunteers as we can to set plants into the terraces and strengthen their protective ability.
Like birds? They LOVE Christian Marsh. Help these guys out by volunteering to save their home!
As an added bonus, the terraces and the plants that grow on them will help form additional habitat for an area that is lush with wildlife, particularly migratory waterfowl. If you have never been to Christian Marsh, it is a virtual paradise for ducks, herons, ibises, roseate spoonbill and brown pelicans. Your volunteer day takes place in one of the most beautiful areas of Louisiana marsh. It’s a beautiful place worth saving.
Additional support for this project comes from Cargill Dicing Technology, Coypu, NOAA and Restore America’s Estuaries.
The Rainey Alliance is a restoration partnership comprised of McIlhenny Company, the National Audubon Society, Sagrera Estates and Vermilion Corporation.
No CommentsFinal draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan approved by CPRA
March 23, 2012 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in 2012 Coastal Master Plan, Community Resiliency, Meetings/Events, Reports, Restoration ProjectsThis story was originally posted on the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana's Coast Currents blog.
By Scott Madere, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
Click for a map of all projects in the final draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan.
With a unanimous vote of its members, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana (CPRA) approved the final draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan at its March 21, 2012 meeting held at the Louisiana State Archives.
The completed draft represents a milestone for Louisiana: a comprehensive science-based plan for coastal restoration and protection, built to last 50 years. The Coastal Master Plan represents thousands of hours of work from scores of contributors and CPRA staff members. As CPRA Director Garret Graves said, it is a document unlike any that has come before, detailed in its approach to Louisiana’s coastal crisis while considering possible limitations in funding and resources. “This plan for the first time ever puts us on a realistic trajectory for generations to come. It’s an achievable goal. It’s a fundamental shift in how we approach coastal planning for Louisiana,” said Graves.
The next step for the 2012 Coastal Master Plan is approval by the Louisiana Legislature, which will receive the document before March 26.
The final draft takes into consideration feedback entered after the introduction of the first draft, released to the public on January 12, 2012. The public comment period ended earlier this year on February 25.
“The comment period was very constructive,” said Graves. “We had over 2,000 comments received. Hundreds of people attended the public meetings that were held. Every single comment was read. Every single comment was considered, and every single comment was responded to.”
In addition to the general public, CPRA also sought the input of a 33-person framework development team, made up of governmental representatives, business and industry representatives, researchers and non-governmental organizations (including CRCL). Focus groups from the oil and gas, navigation and fisheries industries also played a key role in advising CPRA on the Master Plan.
“One of the things we want to do with these focus groups and the framework development team is understand a way to continue them,” said CPRA Chief of Planning, Kirk Rhinehart. “We got so much good dialogue. We learned so much from engaging with them that we want to make sure we continue that process.”
After considering and implementing public feedback, the final draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan differs somewhat from the original version released January 12. Here are many of the important differences between the two versions, broken down by coastal zone:
Click for a map of all projects on the Southwest Coast in the final draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan.
Southwest Coast
- Plans to include 500 year-level flood protection for Lake Charles via levee have been changed to study alternate means of providing the same level of flood protection for the city.
- CPRA will consider more shoreline protection for Cameron Parish.
- CPRA will work with navigation interests to determine the best way to implement a salinity control structure in the Calcasieu Ship Channel at the Gulf of Mexico.
- Hydrologic restoration for Gum Cove has been removed.
Click for a map of all projects on the Central Coast in the final draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan.
Central Coast
- Planned oyster reef in West Vermilion Bay will be redesigned with possible realignment.
- Bayou Chene flood control structure added.
- Marsh creation projects moved from Pointe au Fer and Bayou Penchant in western Terrebonne Parish to eastern Terrebonne Parish, along the rim of northern Terrebonne Bay and near Isle de Jean Charles.
Click for a map of all projects on the Southeast Coast in the final draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan
Southeast Coast
- Marsh creation added to west side of Bayou Lafourche to protect LA-1 corridor.
- Marsh creation for Lafitte area reconfigured, with project moved from the second implementation period to the first implementation period.
- Size of marsh creation plan for Biloxi Marsh doubled, with oyster reefs also added.
- Marsh creation project on Lake Borgne reconfigured.
- Added marsh creation project to Central Wetlands area.
- Projects to improve marsh areas and shoreline protection near the Lake Pontchartrain Barrier will receive planning dollars.
For All of the Louisiana Coast
- Funding added for a Mississippi River realignment study.
- Funding for parish-level nonstructural projects will be consolidated to implement across entire Louisiana coast.
- Creation of a project development and implementation program, to discover solutions for the most difficult areas of Louisiana’s coastline to serve.
- Explicit acknowledgement of climate change to be included in the Coastal Master Plan.
The next step for the 2012 Coastal Master Plan is approval by the Louisiana Legislature, where it will most likely be entered on or before March 26 as a Senate concurrent resolution. For a very detailed explanation of the approval process for the 2012 Coastal Master Plan, visit CRCL’s Coast Currents blog for Part Four of our Coastal Master Plan 101 series, “The Legislative Gauntlet.”
To view the final draft of the Coastal Master Plan, click here.
2 CommentsNew model provides sustainable management tool for Louisiana’s oyster industry
March 19, 2012 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in 2012 Coastal Master Plan, Meetings/Events, SeafoodBy Alisha A. Renfro, Ph.D. and Maura Wood, National Wildlife Federation
On March 10, Louisiana Sea Grant hosted their annual Louisiana Oyster Industry Convention in Kenner, La. The convention brings together members of Louisiana’s oyster industry and trade organizations to meet one another and discuss important issues.
This year’s meeting focused on new oyster culture methods as alternatives to traditional wild-seed and on bottom production. Speakers from Maine, Maryland, Virginia and Alabama presented on how their states have adapted and revitalized their oyster industries, including how they handle permit applications, types of equipment used, dealing with disease and predation, and marketing their product. Speakers acknowledged that there is a definite difference in scale between oyster production in Louisiana and other states, but proposed some techniques and lessons that could be applied here.
Trawl full of Gulf Coast oysters.Credit: NOAA NCCOS
Tom Soniat of the University of New Orleans has developed a model that uses the retention of shell as a measure of oyster reef sustainability. Dr. Soniat reasons that if the reef is sustained, nature will take care of the rest. The model output calculates how much shell can be removed by fishing while still maintaining a sustainable reef. This model is dependent on a criterion for how much shell is needed for a sustainable reef and a good estimate of initial shell in the actual reef. Among the efforts to create and certify a high-quality product, using this model as a management tool could also ensure a sustainable product.
Other topics of discussion included product branding and Louisiana’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan. The day finished up with Don Davis, Carl Brasseaux and Chris Senac talking about the history of oyster fishery in Louisiana, particularly Houma. Overall, it was an interesting conference and hopefully there will be more exploration of new techniques to adapt the Louisiana oyster fishery to future conditions.
1 CommentBassmaster Classic returns to the Mississippi River Delta
February 24, 2012 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in Hunting and Fishing, Meetings/Events, VideosThis story was originally posted the Vanishing Paradise blog.
By Lacey McCormick, National Wildlife Federation
The Mississippi River Delta is one of the best places on earth to catch monster largemouth bass. If America’s anglers didn’t know that before, they certainly discovered it last year when Kevin van Dam shattered the previous Bassmaster Classic stringer record at the 2011 Bassmaster Classic.
B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin
Last night, the Vanishing Paradise team was honored to have the opportunity to make a presentation to executives at B.A.S.S. and the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation conservation directors about the work we are doing to rally hunters and anglers nationwide to support restoration of the Mississippi River Delta. We were particularly delighted when B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin got up before our talk and discussed the importance of restoring the delta and supporting organizations like Vanishing Paradise.
Anglers who know the region intuitively grasp the need for restoration. As Kevin van Dam said before last year’s Classic:
“The first time I fished [the delta] was in the late 1990s and I was blown away by the quality of the fisheries. I’ve fished here a half a dozen times since then. … Each time, I’m just stunned at the changes. Areas that used to be marsh are now just open bay.”
Bassmaster competitor Mike Iaconelli
Vanishing Paradise wants to thank Van Dam as well as the other Bassmaster competitors who have signed our letter to Congress, including Mike Iaconelli, Skeet Reese, Stephen Browning, Cliff Pace, Greg Hackney, Brent Chapman, Edwin Evers, Todd Faircloth, Mark Davis and Terry Butcher.
Mike Iaconelli is one angler who knows the delta well — he won the 2003 Bassmaster Classic there, after all — and he is a strong and vocal supporter of coastal restoration:
“If you hunt, if you fish, if you just love the outdoors, it’s important to step up and care about this problem. The thing is we’ve got a way to fix it, we’ve got a solution. … We’ve got the Mississippi River, which is one of the main things we can use to bring the marsh back.”
Seven-time Bassmaster Classic competitor Stephen Browning agrees, saying anglers everywhere can play a role in speaking up for the delta:
“We can spread the message to the rest of the country, to our congressmen and senators. Hopefully the right person’s eyes will be opened, and we can get something started.
Watch Kevin Van Dam, Mike Iaconelli and Stephen Browning discuss the need to restore the delta:
Restoration Wins Big at 2011 Bassmaster Classic
The 2012 Bassmaster Classic starts today and continues through Sunday (Feb. 24-26).
No CommentsRESTORE Act social media week of action continues!
February 15, 2012 | Posted by Ryan Rastegar in Birds, BP Oil Disaster, Clean Water Act, Meetings/Events, RESTORE Gulf Coast States Act, Wildlife
Thanks to all who have been participating in our RESTORE Act social media week of action! Our work is not done. There is a good chance the RESTORE Act could come to a vote in the Senate this week. That's why it's important for us to keep the pressure on and continue sending messages to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), asking them to take a position on the RESTORE Act and pass it NOW!
Just click on one of these messages!
#RESTOREAct could pass this week! @SenatorReid @McConnellPress Send BP #oilspill fines to the #gulf! http://bit.ly/xYL6DW via @RestoreDelta
Background on the RESTORE Act:
Click on the Facebook image above and share it with your friends!
The BP oil disaster dumped nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging the wildlife, ecosystems and economy of the Gulf Coast.
The RESTORE Act seeks to ensure that at least 80% of the penalties paid by BP are returned to the gulf to be used for restoring the region’s communities, economies and environments.
However unless Congress acts quickly, these penalties could go toward unrelated federal spending. We must act now if we want to ensure that this money goes back to where the damage was done!
Just click on one of these messages to tell Congress to pass the RESTORE Act NOW!
#RESTOREAct could pass this week! @SenatorReid @McConnellPress Send BP #oilspill fines to the #gulf! http://bit.ly/xYL6DW via @RestoreDelta
P.S. Be sure to check out our Facebook page as well and share our RESTORE Act image with your friends!
No CommentsTweet your #LOVE for the gulf!
February 13, 2012 | Posted by Ryan Rastegar in BP Oil Disaster, Clean Water Act, Congress, Meetings/Events, RESTORE Gulf Coast States Act
Want to help show your love for the Gulf this Valentine’s Day? It’s easy! Just click on one of the messages below to tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that you want money from the BP oil spill to go back to the gulf.
Just click on one of these messages!
Background on the RESTORE Act:
The BP oil disaster dumped nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging the wildlife, ecosystems and economy of the Gulf Coast.
The RESTORE Act seeks to ensure that at least 80% of the penalties paid by BP are returned to the gulf to be used for restoring the region’s communities, economies and environments.
However unless Congress acts quickly, these penalties could go toward unrelated federal spending. We must act now if we want to ensure that this money goes back to where the damage was done!
Just click on one of these messages to tweet your love for the gulf!
P.S. Be sure to check out our Facebook page as well and share our Valentine's Day image with your friends!
1 CommentShow your #LOVE for the gulf: RESTORE Act online week of action starts Monday
February 9, 2012 | Posted by Ryan Rastegar in BP Oil Disaster, Clean Water Act, Meetings/Events, RESTORE Gulf Coast States ActBy Ryan Rastegar, Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign Coordinator
Starting Monday Feb. 13 and continuing throughout the week, the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign will be sending some Valentine’s Day love to the gulf! We’ll be tweeting and Facebooking specific members of Congress, urging them to send BP oil spill fines back to the gulf by passing the RESTORE Act.
It has been almost two years since the devastating BP gulf oil spill of 2010, and Congress has yet to act to ensure that the fines from this disaster go back to the areas that were damaged. In the coming months, BP is expected to pay up to $21 billion in penalties from the oil spill. But without any action from Congress, this money could go toward unrelated federal spending. That’s why we’re supporting the RESTORE Act.
The RESTORE Act would ensure that 80 percent of the oil spill penalties paid by BP would go back to the gulf to be used for restoring the region’s communities, economies and environment. It’s time that Congress takes a stand and passes this legislation NOW before it’s too late.
If Congress doesn’t act soon, this money may not be used for repairing the environmentally and economically devastated region. That’s why the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign is taking it to the web!
Join us next week as we pressure the Senate to pass the RESTORE Act this month. We’ll be targeting Senate leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Check back here on Monday Feb. 13 for specific instructions on how you can join our nationwide online action to help restore the gulf!
P.S. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for important updates on our social media week of action as well as all Mississippi River Delta-related news.
2 CommentsPredictive models form scientific backbone of Louisiana Coastal Master Plan
February 8, 2012 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in 2012 Coastal Master Plan, Hurricanes, Meetings/Events, Restoration Projects, ScienceBy Alisha A. Renfro, Ph.D., National Wildlife Federation
Louisiana’s Draft 2012 Coastal Master Plan is a bold, ecosystem-scale restoration strategy that outlines a 50-year plan to combat the land loss epidemic in the Mississippi River Delta. The plan puts forth solutions to addressing the destructive impacts of sea-level rise, subsidence, increased storm intensity, marsh collapse and other factors on Louisiana’s disappearing coastline. The plan is a science-based approach that, at its core, uses a suite of linked models to predict the future of Louisiana’s coastal landscape and the potential damage to communities over the next 50 years, both with and without implementation of the plan’s restoration and risk reduction projects.
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is hosting a series of seminars at universities throughout the state to give residents an overview of the plan’s predictive modeling efforts. These seminars go hand-in-hand with the master plan public meetings held in January. At each seminar, one or two of the individual models is explained by a leading researcher in his/her related fields. A full list of seminars is available online.
This pioneering modeling effort began 18 months ago, when a group of scientists and engineers were gathered to carry out and serve as a technical advisory team for the effort. The challenge was to use existing models, or create new models if none existed, to better replicate complex coastal processes and allow for the analysis of various future environmental condition scenarios as well as over 400 different restoration and protection projects.
Seven calibrated and interconnected models — each developed and refined by a team of scientists — were used to characterize different aspects and functions of the coastal Louisiana landscape:
- Eco-Hydrology: Predicts changes in the flow of water, salinity, water level, sediment, nutrients and other aspects of water quality within the estuaries.
- Wetland Morphology: Predicts losses and changes to wetlands by analyzing factors that affect wetland elevation (e.g., subsidence, sea-level rise) and factors that affect the configuration of the landscape (e.g., storms/hurricanes, saltwater intrusion, sediment transport).
- Barrier Shoreline Morphology: Predicts changes in the barrier island shorelines and inlets due to processes such as relative sea-level rise, subsidence, erosion, storms and loss of interior wetlands.
- Vegetation: Predicts changes in the types and location of vegetation based on changes in wetland area and the movement and characteristics of water in the estuaries.
- Ecosystem Services: A group of models that predicts changes in habitat for commercially and recreationally important species as well as other key services. The individual species models included those for brown shrimp, white shrimp, American alligator, green-winged teal, eastern oyster, rosette spoonbill and others.
- Storm/Surge Waves: Predicts the storm surge and waves that result from various hurricane-level wind speeds and directions. This model is important for understanding the effect that structural protection such as levees and floodgates could have on reducing the effects of storms and waves on coastal communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.
- Risk Assessment: Predicts the damage to assets in the coastal area caused by waves and storm surge by estimating the flooding that would result from levees being overtopped and flooding in areas without structural protection.
The purpose of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan is to identify restoration and protection projects that will create a more resilient and sustainable Louisiana coastline. The suite of predictive models developed for the plan was used to predict the future of Louisiana landscape without any action, as well as the future of the coast with individual restoration and protection projects under different environmental scenarios. The glimpse into our possible future if no large-scale restoration projects are implemented is bleak, with a potential loss of 800 to 1800 square miles of land. To avoid this future, large-scale coastal restoration projects, like diversions, are required to maximize natural land-building processes and build a more sustainable future in the face of uncertain environmental conditions.
No CommentsCPRA conducts successful week of public meetings on 2012 Coastal Master Plan
February 7, 2012 | Posted by Delta Dispatches in 2012 Coastal Master Plan, Community Resiliency, Diversions, Meetings/Events, Reports, Restoration ProjectsThis story was originally posted on the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana's Coast Currents blog.
By Scott M. Madere, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
From Jan. 23-25, 2012, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) of Louisiana held a series of public meetings in New Orleans, Houma and Lake Charles to receive public feedback regarding the recently-released draft of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan. The public comment period, which continues until Feb. 25, is an essential part of refining the master plan before it reaches the Louisiana legislature for approval on March 26. The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) was present at all three public meetings and listened to hundreds of Louisiana residents express their concerns about the plan’s potential to address coastal land loss. No two venues were the same, as citizens in the three meeting locales brought up topics unique to their coastal zones.
CRCL Executive Director Steven Peyronnin expresses support for CPRA's efforts in constructing the 2012 Coastal Master Plan.
New Orleans – More than 270 people attended the first CPRA public meeting, held at the University of New Orleans. Governmental representatives from Plaquemines, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes were on hand as well as commercial fishing interests from these and other communities near New Orleans. Many of the fishers present expressed concerns regarding the master plan’s reliance on large-scale sediment diversions from the Mississippi River to rebuild marshlands on Louisiana’s southeastern coast. In their view, these sediment diversions would introduce a volume of fresh water into the coastal zones which would be unfavorable to the commercial harvest of oysters and shrimp. Sediment diversions are a key element among the many tools available in the 2012 Coastal Master Plan for coastal restoration. The use of these diversions maximize the land-building potential of the plan and reconnect the Mississippi River with its delta.
Jefferson Parish President John Young requested that flood protection plans for Lafitte, Crown Point and Barataria be implemented on faster pace than originally planned in the 2012 master plan draft. There were also a number of non-governmental organizations present including CRCL, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy of Louisiana, Gulf Restoration Network and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation which expressed support for the processes and effort involved in creating the 2012 Coastal Master Plan.
More than 250 residents turned out for the CPRA public meeting in Houma.
Houma – The Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center played host to more than 270 attendees to CPRA’s second public meeting about the 2012 Coastal Master Plan. The Houma meeting’s comments were centered primarily on requests for more restoration projects on the eastern side of Terrebonne Parish, which includes Pointe aux Chenes, Isle de Jean Charles and other communities. Residents of these areas and representatives of the United Houma Nation and other Native American groups appealed to the CPRA representatives, asking for the inclusion of their communities in plans for restoration.
The 2012 master plan does feature restoration and protection projects in Terrebonne Parish. There is enhanced levee protection for Houma and highly-populated areas in the center of the parish, restoration for Timbalier Island, Isle Dernieres and other barrier islands, and marsh restoration in the form of a sediment diversion from the Atchafalaya River in western Terrebonne Parish.
The position of residents in the eastern part of the parish is that western Terrebonne is either uninhabited or very lightly populated, and the money spent restoring the marsh there should be moved to protect communities in the east.
Restore the Mississippi River Delta Campaign Director Derek Brockbank speaks before CPRA in Lake Charles.
Lake Charles – More than 150 people braved heavy thunderstorms to attend the third and final CPRA public meeting on the master plan, and their voice was fairly united in seeking shoreline protection for Cameron Parish in the form of rock barriers.
CPRA has a number of marsh protection projects slated in the Cameron/Calcasieu area, including new proposed salinity control structures. The idea is to build the wetlands around Lake Charles and Cameron to bolster its risk reduction capacity with regard to hurricanes and floods. A long-term solution in the master plan for flood protection in Lake Charles includes a significant levee build within the next 50 years as well.
Cameron Parish residents and their supporters in Calcasieu are asking for a more direct line of defense by placing breakwater barriers on the Cameron shoreline. Cameron Parish governmental officials like Police Jury President Darryl Farque were very determined to make the point that they wish to see this kind of protection added to the plan.
Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach also asked CPRA to not draw political differences between Calcasieu and Cameron when considering projects, as they are “one place hydrologically” in nature.
Overall, the week saw a high degree of public interest in the 2012 Coastal Master Plan, and CPRA executed three very successful consecutive days of public meetings. No opinion was turned away during these meetings, and extra time was allotted past the meeting schedule to accommodate public opinion. The public comment phase of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan is a vital step in creating the best plan possible for Louisiana and continues until Feb. 25. CRCL would like to encourage those who wish to comment on the plan to do so at CPRA’s Coastal Master Plan website: http://www.coastalmasterplan.louisiana.gov/2012-master-plan/public-comment-form/
