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CREST Meeting Looks Back on Ten Years of Progress in Coastal Restoration

In 1993 Don Boesch, former director of LUMCON, chaired a panel that produced the seminal 1994 report “Scientific Assessment of Coastal Wetland Loss, Restoration, and Management in Louisiana.” Last month he was back in Louisiana to give the closing summary at a meeting of 130 people that looked at what progress we have made since then, and he gave an upbeat summary of the present situation. SC&E personnel were well represented at the meeting, which took place April 12-13.

The meeting, organized by Piers Chapman of the CREST office and a committee of CREST scientists and held at the River Oaks Center in Lafayette, was titled “Progress in Understanding Coastal Land Loss and Restoration in Louisiana: the W. Alton Jones Report Revisited.” The talks looked at two main themes: trends, thresholds, and surprising changes in coastal dynamics, and what we are learning from using science in coastal restoration. The first of these sessions considered topics generally excluded from the 1994 report, such as recent rapid changes in land elevation (Dave Zilkoski, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Julie Bernier, Environmental Careers Organization), or the brown marsh phenomenon (Irv. Mendelssohn, SC&E). Other topics in this session included the role and future of wetland forests (Steve Faulkner, United States Geological Survey [USGS], Lafayette), the availability of sediment in the Mississippi River (Mead Allison, Tulane), the role of large, infrequent diversions (Paul Kemp, SC&E), and a very witty discussion of the legal perspective from Mike Wascom (SC&E).

In the session on what we are learning from science, Art Horowitz (USGS) gave a fairly devastating critique of the USGS National Stream Quality Assessment Network Mississippi River sediment-monitoring program, pointing out that the nearest samples to the Old River Control Structure are taken nearly 1,000 km upstream! Other talks included how management decisions affect ecosystem response (Jenneke Visser, SC&E), a history of terraces (Andy Nyman (LSU Agricultural Center), nutrient dynamics of diversions (Hans Rick, University of Louisiana at Lafayette [ULL]), and a review of some hydrologic restoration projects by Bill Good (Louisiana Geological Survey). The social side was not ignored; Shirley Laska (University of New Orleans) discussed various projects she and her colleagues are working on that look at how restoration impacts the people who live in the region. It is clear that this is a topic that will become more and more important as the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Plan takes shape.

Apart from the plenary talks, attendees were treated also to a lunchtime talk by Sherwood (Woody) Gagliano, who reviewed some of the high and low points of his 35-year career in coastal restoration in Louisiana. Additionally, Len Bahr of the Governor’s Office for Coastal Affairs led a panel discussion on the status of science in coastal restoration. A brainstorming session tried to identify key uncertainties that can be used to frame strategic plans for CREST and other similar organizations. This session produced a list of several potential topics where additional research is required and where dedicated workshops could perhaps lead to advances in knowledge.

The poster session included almost 50 contributions, many from LSU. Angela Schrift was awarded one of three prizes for the best student posters for her work with Irv. Mendelssohn on plant recruitment in a restored marsh following the brown marsh outbreak. Congratulations, Angela.

As is usual at such meetings, we held a well-attended evening entertainment at the ULL Alumni Center, with musical accompaniment from Le Frere Michot Cajun Band. The party went on into the late evening, and a few late arrivals were noticed on the second day as a result!