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A Cooperating Organziation of:
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| What are the causes? |
'ÖAnother 500 square miles of land ñ an area larger than the city of Los Angeles ñ could be lost in the next 50 years if dramatic steps are not taken.'
-- Los Angeles Times 8/24/03 |
A combination of both manmade and natural causes is contributing to the dramatic land loss. In many ways, America's WETLAND is a victim of Federal policy.
ï In the 1940's, the Federal government built levees along the Mississippi River to provide flood protection for its cities and ports and to channel the river for the nation's navigation and transportation needs. The river's fresh water was cut off from the wetlands. The nutrients and sediments that had replenished and rebuilt them since their formation now pours out into the Gulf of Mexico and off the continental shelf.
ï This is an organic coast, not a beach, and natural subsidence of the coast has been occurring since the beginning and continues to do so. Before the levees were put in place, the river was able to build and sustain these natural losses.
ï When offshore oil and gas exploration and development began in earnest in 1947 with the first offshore, out-of-sight-of-land well drilled near Morgan City, Louisiana, the first pipeline canal was dug through Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Since that time, canals that carry more than 24,000 miles of pipeline cross Louisiana's shore, anchored on its barrier islands. Then they continue on to distribution points to supply a fuel-hungry nation with energy. These pipeline canals, along with navigation canals, exacerbate the wetland loss. North-south canals allow salt water and stronger tides into fresh marshes, and east-west canals and levees hold excess water on the marshes and swamps.
ï Hurricanes and storm surge do untold damage to the wetlands. As these events occur, the protective ability of America's WETLAND continues to diminish.
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