The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is composed of the heads or designated representatives from nine state agencies in addition to being chaired by the governor’s senior advisor for coastal activities who is also the head of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities.
The nine agencies represented on the Authority are:
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Transportation and Development
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Department of Environmental Quality
Department of Economic Development
Department of Agriculture and Forestry
Louisiana Division of Administration
Governor’s Office for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Department of Insurance
The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West
The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East
In addition, the presidents of the newly formed Orleans East and West Bank Levee Boards, the chair of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation, a representative from the Pontchartrain and South Lafourche Levee Districts and one representative from a parish east of and west of the Atchafalaya River that does not have a levee district shall sit on the CPRA.
Implementation of projects concerning wetlands conservation and restoration will be under the guidance of the Department of Natural Resources Coastal Restoration and Management Division.
Implementation of elements of the plan concerning hurricane protection will be chiefly the responsibility of the Department of Transportation and Development’s Office of Public Works and Intermodal Transportation.
State Coastal Wetland Forestry Conservation and Use Advisory Panel
The CPRA has also worked with the State Coastal Wetland Forestry Conservation and Use Advisory Panel. The panel worked for more than two years to develop a list of recommendations about how to manage and preserve coastal wetland forests. Included in those recommendations are the creation of a dedicated state revenue stream for the purpose of coastal wetland forests and the requirement of government entities to use a portion of coastal restoration funds for coastal wetland forest conservation, restoration and acquisition. Coastal wetland forests are considered a vital part of a system of natural hurricane barriers but have been in decline in Louisiana for more than a century.
Click here for a complete copy of the State Coastal Wetland Forestry Conservation and Use Advisory Panel Recommendations.
Click here to read La. Governor Kathleen Blanco's acceptance of Forestry Panel recommendations
Coastal Wetland Forest Conservation and Use Science Working Group
Louisiana’s coastal wetland forests are of tremendous economic, ecological, cultural and recreational value to residents of Louisiana, the people of the United States and the world. Two million acres of forested wetland occur throughout Louisiana and more than half are in the coastal parishes. Large-scale and localized alterations of processes affecting coastal wetlands have caused the complete loss of some coastal wetland forests and reduced the productivity and vigor of remaining areas. This loss and degradation threatens ecosystem functions and the services they provide.
In response to the continuing loss and adverse impacts to Louisiana’s coastal wetland forests, the Governor commissioned the formation of the Coastal Wetland Forest Conservation and Use Science Working Group (SWG). The mission of the SWG was to provide information and guidelines for the long-term utilization, conservation and protection of Louisiana’s coastal wetland forest ecosystem, from both environmental and economic perspectives. The SWG was composed of professors and researchers from Louisiana State University, Clemson University, Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of Georgia as well as staff from the United States Geological Service and the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Their report was published April 30, 2005. For a complete copy of the report, please click the following link:
Coastal Wetland Forest Conservation and Use SWG Report. pdf.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
Click here for a power point presentation explaining the link between the State Master Plan and LaCPR
The United States Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District:
http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority will continue to work extensively with the following organizations:
The America's Wetland Foundation:
http://www.americaswetland.org/
Parishes Against Coastal Erosion (PACE): http://www.paceonline.org/
The LSU Agricultural Center School of Renewable Natural Resources: http://www.rnr.lsu.edu/
The Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP): http://www.btnep.org/home.asp
Environmental Defense: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/home.cfm
The Coastal Conservation Association-Louisiana: http://www.ccalouisiana.com
The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium(LUMCON): http://www.lumcon.edu/
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): http://www.noaa.gov/
Louisiana State University School of the Coast and Environment: http://www.sc&e.lsu.edu/
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science:
http://www.umces.edu/
