The Cost of Doing Nothing...
Louisiana's story is compelling. It's about an irreplaceable part of America's coast that is disappearing at a catastrophic rate. If the loss is not stopped and reversed, the very industry we discuss today will be at risk, along with the economy, infrastructure, wildlife habitat, fisheries, communities and unique culture of south Louisiana.
Louisiana's coastal wetlands represent 40 percent of all the salt marshes in the contiguous United States. During the past 50 years more than one thousand square miles have disappeared. During this decade, our coastal wetlands are being lost at the rate of 25 to 35 square miles a year, or the equivalent of a football field every 15 minutes. Even with current restoration efforts, we expect to lose almost one thousand more square miles by the year 2050. This dramatic loss represents 80 percent of all coastal wetland loss in the entire continental U.S.
If wetlands loss in Louisiana continues to go unchecked, the total amount of wetlands lost by 2050, set end to end in a one-foot wide strip, would reach from the Earth to the Moon and back 11 times.
The effects of natural processes like subsidence and storms combined with human actions, including impacts from offshore oil and gas exploration and development, have led to an ecosystem on the verge of collapse.
America is losing much more than acreage. Louisiana's coastal wetlands contribute 28 percent to the total volume of U.S. fisheries, provide winter habitat for one-half to two-thirds of the Mississippi Flyway waterfowl population and for many threatened and endangered species, the nursery ground for fish and shellfish for much of the nation's seafood consumption, and 40 percent of the nation's fur harvest. They provide for 400 million tons each year of waterborne commerce, and support and protect the multi-billion dollar a year oil and gas industry. Our coastal wetlands are home to more than two million people and serve as their buffer from hurricanes and storms.