What would you do if, in one day, you lost everything?  I’m not just talking about your personal possessions; I’m talking about your entire community – your church, your grocery store, your school.  The folks you meet in the video below, Warrenetta Banks and John Taylor, have lived out this scenario every day since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 and have chosen to respond with passion and dedication to recovery – advocating for smart, green urban planning on one side of the levee and a healthy wetland ecosystem on the other side of the levee.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Warrenetta and John are both lifelong residents of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.  In the years since catastrophic flooding, they’ve helped their community recover to be one of the “greenest” in the nation – solar panels, community gardens, LEED certified homes are typical encounters as you walk down the street.  That’s on one side of the levee.

Residents like Warrenetta and John understand all too well that the wetland ecosystem on the other side of the levee is critical to their future and safety.  Healthy wetlands serve as a buffer to storm surges and winds and help the levees do their job to protect communities.  National Wildlife Federation is one organization working closely with the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development  (where Warrenetta and John work) to plan and gain funding for restoration of the 400 acres cypress swamp bordering the community (featured in the video) as well as the entire 58,000 acres wetland ecosystem the swamp is connected to, which once buffered much of the Greater New Orleans area from storms and provided important wildlife habitat.

Without healthy wetlands, coastal communities like the Lower Ninth Ward remain very vulnerable to disasters.  Urgent funding is needed for restoration.  The RESTORE Act, legislation now making its way through the U.S. Congress, will use a portion of Clean Water Act penalties from the BP disaster to fund projects that will restore Gulf Coast ecosystems, including wetlands that protect communities and provide critical habitat for Gulf wildlife.  Right now, you can make a difference in the future of the Gulf Coast.  Learn more about the RESTORE Act and share your voice!

Send a message to your members of Congress, urging them to pass legislation to restore the Gulf today.

I have to admit, I was terrified to visit the overflowing banks of the Mighty Mississippi this week.  Not knowing what to expect (no one alive can remember the Mississippi delta at this flood stage), my two-hour preparation meeting had me fretting for my very survival.

American Alligator (credit: Theresa T. Baldwin)

But nightmares and warnings of snakes, alligators, and a current that could sweep you off your feet at a 6-inch depth couldn’t keep me away from this trip.  Why?  Because this was my shot at seeing the river work—this was my shot at seeing the process that built the rich ecosystem of southeast Louisiana and the land on which the city of New Orleans lies.  Though it didn’t help that as we soldiered out to the flooded marsh, seasoned oil field workers watched us from a muster station perched 20 feet in the air, yelling, “Watch out for the snakes!”

With all of the artificial levees lining the river banks, I was out to explore a 10-mile stretch south of New Orleans where only a natural ridge separates the river from the marsh.  As you might imagine, it is overtopping at this moment and the muddy river water (critical freshwater and sediment for the marsh) is inundating the adjacent wetlands.  I went with an important purpose: to help a team of scientists collect data to better understand the deltaic process of land-building and marsh nourishment.  This is a critical concept to understand, as we’re losing about a football field of the delta every 38 minutes largely due to mismanagement of the river.

I survived and it was well-worth the bravery.  I did see a snake, but we also saw just what the scientists had hoped to see—a  transformed landscape with water steadily flowing over large swaths of marshland.   The team, scientists from NWF’s local partner organization, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, have closely studied this unique stretch of river for years.  As we waded knee-deep in the flood, we collected data like flow rates, depth, salinity, and turbidity (how much sediment is in the water).  At the end of the day, we visited an old trapper’s canal that the scientists had previously named “Ezra’s Gully” after a team-member.  The canal is about a quarter-mile long and stretches from the river to the marsh.  As we approached from the marsh end, everyone was shocked to see whitewater rapids pouring out of what is typically a dry or muddy canal.  We disembarked from the boat and surveyed an area that I would have sworn was somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains if I didn’t know better.  Streams of cool water rushed by through the shade-covered banks and we all sat and stared in amazement.  “It’s like a time machine,” said one of the scientists who has studied Louisiana wetlands for decades.

The great thing is, the Mississippi is still mighty and we can restore the process that created and sustained this treasured part of America.  Reconnecting the river to the wetlands can help save Louisiana’s coast and protect communities and wildlife that call it home.

I was back down in the Gulf recently, and there is going to be a long road for recovery for the communities and wildlife impacted by the BP oil disaster.  Here is an update from my colleague Amanda Moore.

Amanda Moore, coastal Louisiana organizer with the National Wildlife Federation, talks about the three-month mark of the ongoing disaster & how NWF’s work in the Gulf is just getting started:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>
 

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.

As you can see in this video with NWF’s Amanda Moore, heavy oil has made it past the booms and onto the marsh only a few miles off shore in Louisiana’s Bay Jimmy.

You can see more photos from the trip on Flickr & more NWF videos on YouTube.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.