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Smooth cordgrass is a perennial grass native to intertidal saline marshes along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts. It is important for coastal areas because it reduces coastal erosion. Smooth cordgrass stems reduce wave energy and build land. The roots stabilize existing land. Reducing coastal erosion is especially important in Louisiana because the state has the highest erosion rate in the continental United States. (PDF Format Only)
Hundreds of sea oat plants bent in the breeze on a sandy beach as LSU AgCenter researchers walked among them, looking for plants with potential to help stem erosion on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.
More than 75% of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are privately owned, yet the majority of restoration funding provided through federal and state initiatives is directed toward large-scale, public restoration projects. This report compares and contrasts the programmatic and economic aspects of the coastal and inland models of wetland restoration that have evolved in Louisiana over the past decade.
This document provides a synoptic overview of this 40-year-old navigation channel from project inception through modern day. Economic and environmental impacts related to the MRGO are documented for St. Bernard Parish and potential restoration scenarios are described. Additional information is provided on the time and financial resources required to fully address the environmental degradation caused by the MRGO.
One of the biggest questions that has arisen in recent years involves the apparent disparity in federal restoration funding provided for the Florida Everglades versus that provided for coastal Louisiana. This document uses published reports and secondary data to develop a parallel comparison of Florida and Louisiana wetlands at the state, regional, program and resource levels.
An historical overview of Louisiana fisheries in the context of pre- and post-levee construction on the Mississippi River. Data from the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion is used to describe the relationship between freshwater re-introduction and estuarine fisheries productivity. The report characterizes the conflict between Louisiana’s short-term and long-term goals of coastal restoration and coastal fisheries management.
