Gulf Restoration Network

Ask Congress to demand a plan for coastal Louisiana from the Corps!

Join the Call for the Coast - Defend our Wetlands - Defend Ourselves In order to ensure protection of the Nation’s fisheries, shipping, cultural resources, and energy infrastructure, please tell Congress to demand that the Army Corps of Engineers produce:

* A real plan with concrete actions;

* Full use of the Coastal Lines of Defense strategy, which includes wetland restoration in hurricane protection;

* A simpler and faster authorization process;

* Adherence to Congressional mandated deadlines; and

* An examination of existing Corps projects and suggest alterations or de-authorizations that would better protect and restore our natural storm defenses (wetlands, coastal forest, etc.).

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January 17, 2009

Subject:

Dear Policymaker,

As a member of an important Army Corps of Engineers Oversight committee, I implore you to look into the Corps’ Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LaCPR) study. There are serious flaws with this plan at a crucial time in Louisiana's history. Simply put, the Corps has not followed your directions in producing this plan. In early 2006 Congress directed the Corps to prepare a ”Comprehensive Category 5 protection” report with flexible and clear project recommendations for Congress to approve and appropriate funds for. Despite setting a deadline of December 2007, we still do not have a plan in hand.

According to the Corps, the report "won't include the specific identification of a detailed plan."  Instead, you will be receiving a “non-plan” with over two dozen alternatives -- four to five projects per planning district along Louisiana's coast. Clearly, the Corps is supposed to have the expertise to make these decisions. That’s why you told them to come up with a plan in the first place. Why should lawmakers have to study and debate hydrology, sedimentation, diversion alternatives, etc?

The LaCPR has largely ignored input from Louisiana’s congressional leadership. Louisiana officials requested "programmatic authorization," a more streamlined approach than the piecemeal method of choosing projects that the Corps is proposing.

In addition, the Corps needs to be responding to a post-Katrina Louisiana. Pre-Katrina projects can't simply be rolled into a post-Katrina protection and restoration plan. Projects that have already been authorized should be re-analyzed to ensure they meet our post-Katrina needs. The Corps should look at Louisiana as a whole and create a single comprehensive plan that includes all protection and restoration projects under the Corps’ jurisdiction.

In order to ensure the protection of our Louisiana’s and the Nation’s fisheries, cultural resources, and oil and gas infrastructure, please tell the Corps to ensure that the LaCPR:
* Actually gives Congress a plan that suggests concrete actions and fully incorporates the Coastal Lines of Defense strategy, including wetland restoration.
* Makes the process of authorization simpler and faster. 
* Meets future Congressional mandated deadlines. 
* Examines existing Corps projects and suggest alterations or de-authorizations that would protect our natural storm defenses (wetlands, coastal forest, etc.).

Thank you for your time and interest in this very serious issue for all Louisianans and the Nation.

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