Natural Defenses

• Moved Congress to require that the Army Corps of Engineers develop a closure plan for the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) -- the first step towards shutting down the destructive 'hurricane highway to New Orleans.'
  
• Released the report The School of Big Storms: The High Cost of Compromising our Natural Defenses and the Benefits of Protecting Them, a collaboration of the GRN and the Sierra Club.  The report urges public officials, government agencies and citizens living along the Gulf Coast to learn from the lessons that past hurricanes have taught us.  So we must protect our natural coastal environment and the people and communities that live here.
• Achieved Senate passage of the requirement for independent review of Army Corps of Engineers' projects.

Endangered Species

• Coordinated the Save Our Cypress coalition to kick off the campaign to demand that Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's stop selling cypress mulch.
• Convened a strategy meeting with groups in Florida to oppose the Magnolia Bay Resort and Marina to make our collective impact strong enough to stop the Magnolia Bay monstrosity.
• Connected our new member group, Environmental Alliance of North Florida, with our friends at Southwings in order to do a flyover of the area to properly document the threats from the proposed development.

Smart Energy

• Convinced Louisiana Governor Blanco to veto an open-loop LNG terminal proposed by Freeport McMoRan, causing the company to immediately switch the project to a fish-safe alternative.
• Forced ConocoPhillips to withdraw an application for an open-loop terminal proposed 11 miles off Alabama's coast in the face of ongoing opposition from Alabama Governor Riley.
• Watch-dogged the withdrawal of ConocoPhillips' application for a second open-loop terminal proposedfor 50 miles off Galveston, Texas.
• Released a short film featuring Mr. Bill of Saturday Night Live to educate and entertain the public about the issue of LNG in the Gulf.  The film has been downloaded over 3,000 times.
• Organized a 'boat parade' around Shell's Houston headquarters with 14 boats of all sizes circling Shell's building with "Stop the LNG Shell Games" banners flying.
• Sent GRN campaign director, Aaron Viles, and Mike Lane, owner of the sportsman website RodNReel.com to the Hague, Netherlands to attend the Shell Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and communicate concerns about their terminal.
• Released a scientific peer-review of Shell's Gulf Landing fisheries impacts underscoring ongoing concerns.

Healthy Waters

• Won protections for Turkey Creek in coastal Mississippi through our work with the Turkey Creek Community Initiatives.  The effort lead to stronger protections for Turkey Creek, making it safe for recreating year round.
  
• Forced the Army Corps of Engineers to revise their proposal that would have made it easier to develop wetlands in coastal Mississippi.
• Succeeded in getting the Army of Corps of Engineers to visit properties on the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain in Louisiana where developers failed to properly mitigate for previous wetland destruction.  The Corps is now working to ensure that developers take actions to mitigate this destruction.
• Worked with Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to improve their electronic system for notifying the public of watershed cleanup plans, known as "TMDLs".
• Pushed a developer to redesign a proposed project that would have destroyed 30 acres of wetlands in Ouchita Parish, Louisiana.  Due to our comments, these 30 acres, including 18 acres of cypress forest, were not harmed.

Sustainable Fisheries

• Presented our solutions on threats to fisheries in teh Gulf at the "Southeast Bycatch Workshop Review" hosted by the National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS) in response to GRN advocacy.
• Held sustainable fisheries workshops in Mobile, New Orleans, Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi to educate and activate members and supporters about Gulf fish issues.
• Worked with our newly educated and activated supporters to inundate the NMFS and their boss at the Department of Commerce with comments demanding an immediate end to the overexploitation of the Gulf's red snapper.  The NMFS responded to legal and public pressure generated by the GRN and published a draft interim rule to stop red snapper overexploitation.
• Worked with our e-activists to urge Congress to strengthen the primary law that manages Gulf fish, the Magnuson Stevens Act.  Congress eventually passed a new national ocean fisheries law which updates and strengthens key provisions for improving fisheries management.