Audubon, partners release vision for Mississippi delta

Today, Mississippi River Delta habitats in coastal Louisiana are reeling from the BP oil disaster. But this rich and incredibly productive ecosystem was hovering on the edge of collapse long before the oil began to flow. Since the 1930s, more than 2,300 square miles of Louisiana’s vital marshlands have disappeared – literally sinking into the sea.

These wetlands support 100 million birds and millions of people.

We must stop the destruction and being a process of renewal.© U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Growing Atchafalaya River delta

President Obama and his advisors have committed to making the Gulf Coast better than it was before the oil disaster began.

In fact, President Obama’s point man for Gulf recovery, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, said in early July that the nation needs the Gulf region to be healthy both environmentally and economically and that it is the nation’s responsibility to make the Gulf Coast whole.

Audubon and its partners, the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation, have authored a plan containing specific steps that the federal government can and should begin taking immediately to fulfill its promise of renewal for one of our nation’s most productive and important wetland ecosystems. We have a vision for the future of America’s Living Coast.

View this video describing how land-building river diversions work to restore delta wetlands.

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