Coastal restoration areas top agenda

As part of an ongoing series of public meetings to go beyond talk and institute action toward coastal restoration, the America’s Wetland Foundation and its America’s Energy Coast initiative will conduct an information and planning forum at the Courtyard by Marriott in Houma on Sept. 28 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes are the focal point during this one of several meetings taking place along the Gulf Coast.

The objective is to find answers that balance having a productive industrial base while protecting environmental concerns of the region.

“The wetlands in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes are disappearing and communities like Houma and Thibodaux are highly vulnerable to increasingly more powerful storms, sea level rise and subsidence,” AWF spokesman John Hill said.

“Lingering questions about commercial and environmental benefits for this working coast remain, as disasters, both man-made and natural, are now part of the region’s reality.”

Hill said that while not every home or neighborhood can be protected, nor every mile of coastline restored, changes could be made to sustain the economic assets of this region that is relied upon by the rest of the nation.

During the AWF forum, stakeholders will assess community vulnerabilities and reveal research findings from a $4.2 million energy study that demonstrates how the Gulf Coast could suffer $350 billion ion asset losses during the next 20 years if nothing is done to protect Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

Identified as the Blue Ribbon initiative, the forums of which this will be a part, is chaired by Louisiana Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and led by experts from Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.