Ward Bayou Needs Funds To Bounce Back

canada goose coats on sale Army Corps of Engineers built the MRGO shipping channel in 1968. So far, the bayou’s comeback canada goose outlet london has been led by canada goose sale uk community groups and universities, and it needs more money. The Army Corps has a MRGO ecosystem restoration project that includes the bayou but the state is unwilling to contribute to its costs. canada goose coats on sale

canada goose clearance sale On Nov. 27, the Sierra Club, the Lower Ninth Ward Center canada goose outlet online uk for Sustainable Engagement and Development, the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and the National Wildlife Federation held a panel discussion on Bayou Bienvenue at All Souls Church on St. Claude Ave. in New Orleans. canada goose clearance sale

canadian goose jacket Before getting to the details of that meeting, a look at the current situation and recent past explains what’s at stake. The bayou, a pond full of dead cypress stumps, has buy canada goose uk clearly seen better days. Nonetheless, at the moment, “fishing canada goose outlet mall is way good” outside the Bayou Bienvenue Marina and Bait Shop on Paris Road, owner Jimmy Dixon Jr. said last week. “They’re pulling in great trout, redfish, flounder, sheep and drum.” canada goose outlet website legit He said “if the water is freshened, it would put us out of business.” canadian goose jacket

Canada Goose online The overall plan, however, is to reduce the water’s salinity so that cypress trees and the former swamp ecology can return. John Taylor, bayou ecology historian, canada goose outlet store calgary said last week canada goose outlet canada he was brought straight to the Lower Ninth after his birth at Charity Hospital in 1947, canada goose coats uk and has lived next to Bayou Bienvenue most of his life. “It used to be so thick with cypress trees that my brother and I boated it without paddles,” he said. “We just grabbed onto trunks and pulled ourselves forward. The water was full of crawfish canada goose outlet orlando and cypress trout or mud fish.” Before his time, Ninth Warders harvested Spanish canada goose outlet mississauga moss from trees there for mattresses. Canada Goose online

Canada Goose Parka But salt water poured in when the MRGO channel was built, destroying 27,000 acres of wetlands including Bayou Bienvenue. In 2009, the Corps closed MRGO, which had become known as “hurricane alley” for increasing storm surge canada goose outlet london uk in New Orleans during Katrina. Canada Goose Parka

Canada Goose sale Today, Lower Nine residents want their vegetative swamp back for a number of reasons, particularly because it would provide defense against hurricanes and the state’s shrinking coastline. Canada Goose sale

cheap Canada Goose After Katrina, residents and community groups came up with the idea of an observation deck canada goose outlet in canada on Bayou canada goose outlet germany Bienvenue, and landscape architecture students and faculty from the University of Colorado at Denver built it in 2009. “We snuck the deck in here without any permits or approvals,” Taylor said. “But it’s such a popular spot now that it’s here to stay.” Neighbors, bicyclists, eco tourists and researchers sit on the deck at Florida and Caffin Avenues, gazing out at the treeless bayou and mulling its potential, he said. cheap Canada Goose

canada goose store Taylor, who acts as an ad hoc guide at the observation deck, said “we’re not turning away tourists here,” referring to an issue between Lower Ninth residents and big tour buses. “We have lots of plans for the bayou’s recovery but little money. We canada goose outlet online store review need all the public awareness, recognition and participation we can get.” canada goose store

canada goose clearance At the Nov. 27 meeting, moderator Darryl canada goose shop uk Malek Wiley of the Sierra Club in New Orleans was pleased that a canada goose outlet montreal crowd of fifty canada goose parka outlet uk turned out. The room was so full that some audience members leaned on walls in the back. Army Corps in New Orleans, was on the panel and said the bayou’s recovery is part of a $2.9 billion MRGO Ecosystem Restoration project that’s awaiting Congressional appropriation. It needs 35 percent funding from a non federal sponsor as required by the Water Resources canada goose outlet sale Development Act of 1986. That sponsor could be the state. But so far, no sponsor willing to shoulder 35 percent has been found. canada goose clearance

buy canada goose jacket cheap Separately, the state has included Bayou Bienvenue’s restoration in its Coastal Master Plan, approved by the legislature last spring. Graves said since MRGO was a federal navigation channel, the feds have to assume full responsibility for remediating its ecological damages. He noted that the state has already committed over $100 million to restoration and shoreline protection within the region of the Corps’ MRGO project. And Graves said in his letters that the area hurt by MRGO was wider than the Corps had estimated. buy canada goose jacket cheap

Canada Goose Outlet Meanwhile, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans has a demo canada goose outlet woodbury project in Bayou Bienvenue that’s expected to yield canada goose outlet uk results sooner than the Army Corps project or some of the state’s plans. Canada Goose Outlet

Madeline Goddard, S deputy general superintendent and a speaker at the Nov. 27 bayou discussion, said the canada goose kensington parka uk agency’s $65 million Wetlands Assimilation canada goose outlet buffalo Project stems from an idea within its Environmental Affairs Division and is a partnership between the sewerage board and St. Bernard Parish. Planting of bald cypress and tupelo trees is slated to start in Bayou Bienvenue in March and April, funded by a $10 million grant from the state’s Coastal Impact Assistance Program.

Canada Goose Jackets S is using dredge material to raise the bayou’s elevation on a 20 acre, demo site adjacent to its East Bank Sewage Treatment Plant on Florida Ave., so that canada goose outlet factory trees can be planted in shallow water. Canada Goose Jackets

canada goose coats Last week, Robert Jackson, S spokesman, said tons of bio solids, or sludge that comes from waste water treatment and is suitable for land applications and food crops, along with tons of incinerated ash will be used in the bayou elevation process. Treated effluent will be canada goose outlet washington dc pumped into the bayou, starting in March and April, to control salinity and provide nutrients. A similar effort will be made on the St. Bernard Parish side of the canada goose outlet niagara falls project. canada goose coats

canada goose black friday sale Tree planters have plenty of work to do if the bayou is to canada goose outlet legit return to its former state. The Army Corps’ Miller noted that less than canada canada goose outlet goose outlet black http://www.canadagoosecanadaoutlet.com friday a century ago Bayou Bienvenue contained 500 or 600 trees per acre. He ran across that statistic in a 1921 report titled “The Industrial Canal and Inner Harbor of New Orleans,” canada goose outlet florida published by the Port of New Orleans. canada goose black friday sale

canada goose Taylor said art inside the bayou early next year will help raise awareness about the need for restoration. An art installation from natural and locally found materials, sponsored by A Studio in the Woods in New Orleans, should be up canada goose outlet near me in January and February. canada goose

buy canada goose jacket At the Bayou Bienvenue Marina, Dixon said he’s waiting for ecologists to release floating islands, made of plants and recycled plastic and used for restoration, from his launch this winter. end buy canada goose jacket.