National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Announces Nearly $68 Million for Louisiana Restoration Project

$40.4 million dedicated to Mid-Barataria Diversion, a critical project to comprehensive coastal restoration

Vanishing Paradise, an effort uniting sportsmen and women from across the country to restore the Mississippi River Delta, released the following statement:

“We applaud the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, for dedicating almost $68 million to seven key barrier island and river diversion projects, including more than $40 million for the Mid-Barataria Diversion project. The Barataria Basin has one of the highest rates of land loss in the world, and this large-scale wetland restoration project is crucial to reversing that trend.

“The marshes of the Barataria Basin are not only rapidly disappearing – they also suffered harm during the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. These wetlands provide important nurseries for many aquatic species, are home to premiere fishing and also give countless ducks and waterfowl warm wintering grounds each year.
“The mid-sized Mid-Barataria Diversion is a key component of Louisiana’s 2012 Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast – a blueprint for restoring the Mississippi River Delta and Louisiana’s coast and contains a suite of restoration and protection projects.

“Projects like the Mid-Barataria Diversion can reconnect the river to its wetlands and help revive America’s largest delta to a productive, functioning state, which provides important ecological and economic opportunities for people and wildlife. We look forward to continued work with both the NFWF and the State of Louisiana to implement the Mid-Barataria sediment diversion on its current timeline of being ready for construction in 2015.”

Vanishing Paradise

The Mississippi River Delta supports some of the best hunting and fishing anywhere in the world. But since levees were built in the early 1930s, the Mississippi River Delta has lost an area of coastal wetlands, forests and barrier islands almost as large as Delaware. Vanishing Paradise works with over five hundred businesses and organizations to restore Louisiana’s waterfowl and fishing habitat by reconnecting the Mississippi River with its wetlands.