Gulf of Mexico Alliance

A long-term presence in the northern Gulf of Mexico would allow USGS to respond to the Governors Action Plan as a member of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance.   DOI has made a serious commitment to contribute resources to the five Gulf States in the areas of water quality for healthy beaches, wetland and coastal conservation and restoration, environmental education, identification and characterization of Gulf habitats, and reduction of nutrient inputs to coastal ecosystems.  Many of the activities described within this plan respond to the stated needs of the five Gulf Coast States; funding for this science plan will provide the necessary resources. (..more information)

Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Ecosystem Restoration Program

The USGS has a long history of working in Louisiana and providing the science information necessary to support the activities undertaken by the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Ecosystem Restoration Program.  These activities include subsidence, land loss and coastal change studies, wetlands and habitat evaluations, GIS and data management support, and workshops.  In addition, the USGS is hosting the Science Board as part of the LCA Program.  This Science Board has an advisory and oversight function for the science and technology that will be funded and undertaken as part of the long-term restoration and hazard mitigation efforts in Louisiana.  Our science proposed within this plan will complement and leverage the various activities being undertaken by the many agencies and researchers involved in the LCA. (..more information)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

The USGS proposes to collaborate with the University of New Orleans Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES) to offer science and technical advice to the Fish and Wildlife Service that will enable them to make reasonable restoration management decisions. The work proposed will build on a data effort in which baseline bathymetry and topography are currently being collected and analyzed under support from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and USGS. The effort proposed to FWS will include shoreline, topographic and bathymetric change, geologic framework and sediment resource potential, and modeling to project island response to various restoration alternatives. (..more information)

Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES)

The University of New Orleans (Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences) and the USGS have a long history of partnering to study coastal issues.  Most recently PIES and USGS are collaborating to monitor Louisiana’s sandy shorelines. The main supporter and partner for the Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) program is the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Included in the BICM program are barrier shoreline storm assessment (2005) and barrier and mainland shoreline change analysis (1880’s-2005), bathymetric data collection for the entire Chandeleur Island chain, Sandy Point to Raccoon Point, and Mermentau Outlet to Sabine Pass. (..more information)