CWPPRA offers hope for future of coast

I have watched with sadness the rapidity of change along the Louisiana coastline. Delacroix is a shell of what it was when I first ventured out of End of the World Marina almost two decades ago with then-editor Todd Masson.

Venice? It disgusts me to even look at an updated satellite image of the place I truly believe God created as his own fishing camp.

As I look at the wall map of the state I love, I can’t help but laugh at the depictions of Southeast Louisiana marshlands that have disappeared over the past few years or decades.

The first time this truly hit home to me was during the 1999 Bassmaster Classic while riding with one of the pros from Bayou Segnette to Venice. During the run past Empire, I leaned over to look at the GPS (a tool I only dreamed about at the time) and was stunned to see all of the "land" scrolling by on the screen.

We were in the middle of what a wide-open bay, with not a speck of land to be seen between us and the Gulf of Mexico.

And the area’s colloquial name — Erosion Bay —really came into focus for me.

The challenges along the coast are many. Constant wave action sips at the boundaries of the marshes. Tropical storms take huge, hungry bites. Subsidence slowly swallows entire sections of marshlands.

And humans have done all in our power to make amplify the effects of these natural forces, strangling the life-giving Mississippi River for 100 years before fighting over where restorative work should be undertaken.

Don’t get me started on environmental studies that are undertaken while the coast rots away.

Do I sound pessimistic about the future of our fragile coasts? Well, I guess I am.

But there is hope. The coalition known as Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA, for short) has been at work, cutting red tape and spending money on slowing the rate of loss instead of studying the problem.

We begin a look at those projects this month with the first in a series of stories (see page ?????) on CWPPRA projects that we should all support.

The success story of the Raccoon Island restoration proves we can slow the natural process of coastal decay if work begins now.

We are at a critical point in the evolution of the coast, when trying something and failing is a far better option than sitting back, fighting among ourselves and studying the problem to death. It’s time to act, and CWPPRA offers hope that our leaders finally understand that.

What we need are more Raccoon Islands. Then we can have hope that our grandchilren will enjoy the rich resources of the Louisiana coast.