The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) has partnered with Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) to establish the Multiple Lines of Defense Assessment Team and website. LPBF and CRCL have worked closely with the Gulf Restoration Network, Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (University of New Orleans), Southeastern Louisiana University, Louisiana State University (including the LSU Hurricane Center), the Sierra Club, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense and many others. This network provides a tremendous reservoir of expertise and assistance.
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is a recognized environmental leader in Louisiana. Starting in 2004, LPBF began to re-evaluate its coastal plans and in July of 2005 it established a Coastal Sustainability Program. The Louisiana coast was in crisis before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and is now in a desperate race to preserve its coast and culture. In response, a plethora of coastal plans and projects are now being developed by federal, state and local entities, requiring even more intense engagement by LPBF to promote restoration in the Pontchartrain Basin.
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is a non-profit, advocacy organization whose mission is the protection and restoration of a sustainable coastal Louisiana. Over its 20 year history, the goal of the Coalition has been to reverse the pattern of net land loss in coastal Louisiana and to reestablish a sustainable balance to its geologic processes and communities. In pursuit of this goal, the Coalition advocates for the implementation of sound coastal policies and monitors coastal activities to ensure that stringent regulations and enforcement policies are maintained.
In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf South region and created unprecedented devastation and misery for coastal Louisiana. Simply stated, these hurricanes dramatically re-enforced the proposition that coastal restoration and flood protection need to be considered together as proposed by LPBF and CRCL prior to Hurricane Katrina. The Multiple Lines of Defense Strategy goes a step further by proposing how to blend coastal restoration and flood protection.
The Multiple Lines of Defense Strategy has tremendous potential to further coastal restoration and flood protection in the Pontchartrain Basin and elsewhere in the coast. The McKnight Foundation awarded a grant to facilitate and accelerate the development of meaningful coastal planning. This is accomplished by a Multiple Lines of Defense Assessment Team and website. These elements are a strong compliment of technical expertise and public outreach, and therefore have the capacity to enhance and promote the priority projects as well as promote better coastal planning throughout south Louisiana. The project capitalizes of the capability of LPBF and CRCL to extend to achieve these goals. At this critical juncture, this project could influence the course of history for south Louisiana over the next fifty years. |
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