Second Annual "Protect our Wetlands, Protect Ourselves" More...

A new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and US Fish and Wildlife Service shows that wetland loss along Gulf Coast has far outpaced wetland loss in other parts of the United States.  From 1998 to 2004, the Gulf Coast lost more than 370,000 acres of wetlands, a rate 25 times greater than wetland loss along the Atlantic Coast.

As noted in a Mobile Press-Register story, much of the Gulf Coast wetland loss is due to development. The report should cause state and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to take a hard look at their wetland permitting practices.  As the GRN has often noted, state and federal agencies are far too lax in permitting wetland destruction in the Gulf Region.   This study should serve as a wakeup call to the Corps and other agencies that they are failing to adequately protect our wetlands.  A full copy of the report is available here.

Save one of America's last, large free-flowing rivers

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction - in an effort to expand the nation's petroleum reserve, the Department of Energy is prepared to hollow out a series of salt domes near Richton, Mississippi. In other words, they're planning on pumping oil back into the ground! To do this, they will pump 50 million gallons of water from Mississippi's Pascagoula River everyday for five years to dissolve underground salt and then dump the salty, polluted byproduct off the coast of one of Mississippi's barrier islands. This process could have serious consequences for Gulf of Mexico and Pascagoula River fisheries and the businesses and jobs that rely on a healthy ecosystem.


To pour salt on the wound, this wholesale environmental destruction will cost taxpayers $4 billion. With a new head of the Department of Energy, now is the time to stop this madness: send the DOE your personal message now.


Our nation faces a variety of real and pressing challenges, from the growing economic turmoil to the impending consequences of global climate change. Amidst all these significant challenges, it's hard to believe that the Department of Energy is ready to squander $4 billion dollars on this environmentally destructive project. It's time that the federal government focused its efforts on ending our dependence on oil rather than squandering precious dollars on solving yesterday's problems.

Read more about the project here and take action here. 

Groups Seek $362 Million for Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Damage

New Orleans, LA – Today, 30 local, national and international organizations, ranging from Greenpeace USA to the Louisiana Shrimp Association and spearheaded by the Gulf Restoration Network, sent a letter to Shell Oil, holding Shell accountable for wetlands loss caused by the company's pipeline canal dredging in coastal Louisiana, and asking Shell to contribute $361,984,000 to the restoration of Louisiana's wetlands. This letter is part of an effort which aims at holding oil and gas companies responsible for the role they have played in wetlands loss.

"There is solid evidence that forty to sixty percent of Louisiana's coastal wetlands loss can be traced to oil and gas activities," says Aaron Viles, Campaign Director for the Gulf Restoration Network. "It is only fair that companies like Shell pay for the cost of the damage they have caused."

While Shell's fortunes continue to rise, coastal Louisiana's marshes are disappearing at an astounding rate and thus leaving the whole region more vulnerable to future hurricanes. According to records from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Shell Oil has dredged 8.8 million cubic yards material while laying pipelines since 1983. These activities alone have caused the loss of 22,624 acres of wetlands in the last 25 years.