Natural Storm Defenses:

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, those in Louisiana now recognize the importance of the state’s wetlands as natural hurricane barriers and statewide support has been galvanized around the need to restore our vanishing coast. Unfortunately, the nation is still woefully unaware of the threats to these critical ecosystems and the need for national leadership to protect them.  Meanwhile, Louisiana continues to lose the equivalent of a football field worth of wetlands every 45 minutes due to oil & gas development impacts, the channelization of the Mississippi River and other factors.  Thousands of acres of wetlands must be restored if urban centers are to be protected from future Katrina’s.

The natural storm defenses intern will assist the GRN in our efforts to:

·         Build national awareness of Louisiana’s coastal crisis

·         Develop outreach events, both in person and online to build a national constituency for the issue

·         Create and disseminate media materials on the issue.