Save our coast

The Mississippi River Delta is drowning.

You may have seen a map depicting this in the newspaper recently, part of an America’s WETLAND Foundation report. And you’ve probably already forgotten about it.

Yet, every hour of every day, our nation’s most economically vital and culturally storied place continues to disappear into the Gulf of Mexico.

The causes are many and complex, but humans are largely to blame. Our decision long ago to occupy the swampy South Louisiana coast—and to maintain New Orleans as a crucial port city—meant building levees, which have channeled silt into the sea rather than to the marshes it nourished and replenished for centuries.

Although this is a difficult budget year for lawmakers, we must make it a top priority to come up with a long-term strategy and marshal federal support.

Saving our coast will take elected officials at the state and national levels with the political guts for a fight that won’t win them any political friends today, but will mean everything to our children’s children if they are to have any hope of sustaining the economy and culture of South Louisiana.

Find out how you can get informed and involved.

Visit americaswetland.com or coastal.louisiana.gov to learn more.