Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems are recovering, but much still needs to be done
In the year since Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal areas across the Gulf of Mexico, signs of hope are appearing. Residents are slowly moving back into repaired or new homes. Businesses are rebounding and communities are more united than ever. We commend the efforts being made to help coastal communities recover.
As reconstruction and other activities take place around the Gulf to assist communities, it is imperative that action also be taken to ensure conservation and restoration of ecological systems that provide essential environmental services to coastal communities.
The Gulf's coastal and wetland areas generate billions of dollars each year through fisheries, recreation and tourism. Healthy coastal areas are a vital tool in protecting communities against storms by absorbing damaging wind and wave energy.
At the same time, these generous landscapes are the essence of the quality and character of life in the Gulf Coast. They are part of a heritage treasured by residents and valued by visitors.
The revival of the Gulf's coastal communities depends upon action being taken in the coming months and years to conserve and restore wetlands, coasts, forests, barrier islands and other natural areas to ensure the Gulf of Mexico is healthy and productive for today and future generations.
Plans for Restoration
This past March, the governors of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas put forth an ambitious plan to restore the vital natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Governors' Action Plan sets out a comprehensive and much needed blueprint for initiating long-term restoration for a healthy Gulf. In the three year implementation plan, the governors identified five specific areas to focus on:
- improving water quality;
- restoring wetlands;
- increasing awareness about the Gulf;
- improving coastal management; and
- reducing pollution.
It is imperative that adequate funding and support be provided in the coming months and years to ensure this plan moves forward in an efficient and effective manner.
Individual Gulf states and policy makers are also calling for action to bring this natural treasure back to health.
Governor Haley Barbour's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal mobilized Mississippians to respond to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Among the priorities set by the Commission is the conservation of coastal marshes, forests and wetlands.
Senator Trent Lott also has introduced a bill, the Gulf of Mexico Restoration and Protection Act, which would recognize the national and international importance of the Gulf of Mexico, expand services provided by the EPA Gulf of Mexico Program, and expand and strengthen cooperative efforts to restore and protect the Gulf of Mexico.
Restoration plans should also address reconnecting the Mississippi River with its floodplain and protecting the barrier island system. And the nation must begin implementing the first phase of the long-planned Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study.
Local, state and federal support for these proposals is needed to ensure the necessary actions are taken to protect vital coastal resources.
Restoring Coastal Habitats for People and Nature
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged over 100 square miles of marshes across coastal Louisiana alone. Hurricane winds snapped off or uprooted almost 50 percent of bayhead forests at Louisiana's Abita Creek Flatwoods and Lake Ramsay preserves and almost 70 percent of the trees at the Willie Farrell Brown Preserve in Mississippi.
But there are signs of hope.
In many areas that were inundated with saltwater, trees and other plants have resprouted and bloomed.
And there are numerous stories from area residents who say healthy forests and marshlands protected them from flooding and damaging winds.
On Louisiana's Grand Isle barrier island, residents reported that the island's live oak-hackberry forests slowed the force of the water from the storm surge and served as a barrier against the 187 mile per hour winds. In fact, the city has passed an ordinance setting tough restrictions on cutting trees down.
Along with protecting local residents, the forests of Grand Isle and the Gulf Coast provide critical habitat for millions of birds that make the 600-mile flight over the Gulf of Mexico, or take the even longer route around the Gulf.
Without healthy and intact forests and coastal habitats where these birds can stop, rest and refuel, entire populations of many species could disappear.
One of the most important bird stopover sites along the Gulf is the Laguna Madre of Texas and Mexico, an incredibly rich ecosystem of barrier islands, marshes and thorn-scrub forest. The Mexican portion of the Laguna was recently declared a 1.5-million-acre Natural Protected Area by the federal government, thanks to work by the Conservancy's local partner, Pronatura Noreste.
The Conservancy is also working with the Grand Isle Port Authority and Nicholls State University to establish oyster reefs along the coast. Along with protection against erosion, oysters provide food and refuge for many animals as well as filter substantial quantities of water.
For more than 40 years, the Conservancy has been working at more than two dozen sites across the Gulf of Mexico to restore and sustainably manage forests, grasslands, marshes and coastal areas.
The Economics of Restoration
Along with providing critical habitat to countless species, the Gulf of Mexico is the most economically productive body of water within the territories of the United States and Mexico.
The region's oyster and blue crab industries are valued at $350 million a year and sport fisheries in Louisiana alone bring in over $1 billion a year. More than 25 million tourists a year spend billions of dollars visiting the Gulf and coastal communities. And southern Louisiana houses the single largest port complex in the world.
If action is not taken immediately to conserve these vital resources, the nation as a whole will feel the impact.
Each year 25 to 30 square miles of Louisiana's wetlands disappear due to natural and human induced impacts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that by 2040 an area larger than Rhode Island will disappear from Louisiana's coast.
While last year's Hurricanes Katrina and Rita inflicted substantial damage to natural areas around the coast, these vital resources have been threatened for decades.
Poorly-planned coastal development, industrial discharge, waterway dredging as well as agriculture and aquaculture practices pollute waterways with nitrogen and phosphorous. This weakens the resilience of the Gulf's natural resources, making them even more susceptible to storm damage.
The Nature Conservancy is working with government agencies, universities, individuals and other non-profit organizations to promote restoration policies and to launch on-the-ground projects to bring coastal areas back to health.
Investing now in the wetlands, forests, reefs and coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico is essential for protecting lives and economies around the Gulf and across the nation.
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Comments: 15
-TWS
I've see a couple of episodes and while, it deals with personal rather that eco effects, it is very powerful and really brings the message home.
In any event, let's hope the plans for restoration move forward without obstruction or delay.