State, Federal and Local Officials Unveil Coast 2050 Initiative

There's always someone saying that the sun will come out tomorrow, but coastal Louisiana's tomorrow still looks gloomy and cloud-covered. Projections about coastal land loss unveiled earlier this year by Louisiana State University paint a grim forecast for the future of coastal Louisiana. But a new venture among coastal restoration's key players shows strong promise for the coast's future.

Assembled over the summer, the new program - called "Coast 2050" - is a cooperative effort among the Louisiana Coastal Conservation and Restoration Task Force, the Louisiana Wetland Conservation and Restoration Authority, and Louisiana's coastal parishes. Together, these agencies will work to resolve Louisiana's growing wetlands and coastal land loss problems.

Improving Cooperation

At the heart of Coast 2050 is the need to establish better coordination among agencies in charge of coastal restoration. "In the past, we've all been working toward the same goal but going about it in different ways," explains Col. Bill Conner, district engineer for the New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and chair of the Louisiana Coastal Conservation and Restoration Task Force. "Now, with every significant player on the same field, we can start working as a team to speed up the process."

And speeding up the process is exactly what Coast 2050 intends to do. Developing a "...technically-sound strategic plan to sustain coastal resources and provide an integrated multiple use approach to ecosystem management" is the goal Coast 2050 plans to meet before December 1998. "It essentially means that we want to implement a plan that ensures the continued livelihood of the coastal habitat with as small effect as possible on coastal users and residents," explains Conner. The new, uniform plan will build on current restoration efforts and integrate planned efforts from existing programs like the Breaux Act (CWPPRA).

Since its inception, Coast 2050 has held a series of meetings across coastal Louisiana, gathering comments and input from coastal residents, business and industry, and state, federal and local agencies. Once these meetings are complete, the member agencies will meet to review the meeting results and existing restoration efforts before formulating the strategic plan.

Coast 2050 Goal:	Develop, within 18 months. a technically sound strategic plan to sustain coastal resources and provide an integrated multiple-use approach to ecosystem management.