Bayou Farewell By Mike Tidwell

Giving full credit to restricting the Mississippi River as the culprit for loss of wetlands is not accurate. The booming oil and gas exploration of the 1970’s and 1980’s merits a name on the marquee as well. The pipelines and canals used to transport the resources to the outside world placed a great deal of stress on the fragile wetlands. Erosion from the barges in and out of the marshes as well as the salt water allowed into the fresh water, providing a precarious habitat for fresh water species – flora and fauna alike. Plants provide root systems to hold soil in place. Fish and fowl provide an economy for the area. Enter

Today we read a story called Cougars by Patrica Corrigan. The book said they were called " ghost of the wilderness " and " ghost walkers". That part really interested me. So I thought to share this amazing informal text I could tell you what I have read to prove the point.

The characteristic warming climate of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene resulted in rising sea levels which contributed to the formation of the various deltas in the New Orleans area (Dunbar, Britsch, 2008). The natural formation of these deltas produced coastal wetlands that represent 30% of coastal wetlands currently in the United States (Cigler, 2007). In addition to these wetlands, the Mississippi River was surrounded by substantial forest growth (Pabis, 1998).

To begin, because of the change in water supply the wildlife is losing resources, causing them to die. Without the proper water and land mass wildlife needs, most won’t survive. According to, “The Florida Everglades” it states, “As a result, the quantity and diversity of the wetlands’ wildlife decreased and 50% of the original wetlands on South Florida

For more than 50 years since the Central and Southern Florida Project, major ventures have been ongoing which have focused on the provision of fresh water for human-development projects and flood protection. In order to provide water for residential, commercial, and agricultural uses, the natural flow of hundreds of small rivers and streams contained within the Everglades were altered. Revisions included redirecting river flows from winding to straight, draining wetland areas to provide agricultural land, and channelizing rivers by creating high concrete banks to provide flood control. Consequently, the Everglades and its dependent natural community have been highly impacted in the most adverse way.

It is undeniable that climate change is drastically changing our current landscapes throughout the world. There are many individuals who consider climate change to be a natural and organic progression, but many studies indicate that due to excess greenhouse gas emissions, humans are accelerating global warming at an alarming rate. It’s convenient to continuously dismiss the studies and evidence that suggest climate change is real and it could have serious consequences, but when these drastic changes are taking place in our own backyard, it becomes a harsh reality. There is longstanding research, which indicates that the Colorado River has been in a drought since the early 2000’s and researchers allege that due to rising temperatures, the

Obviously, it has been largely ignored in how resources are extracted, leading to the issue of wetland degradation. Oil drilling and driving boats to and from drills eroded large sections of the wetlands. However, the issue of degradation cannot be completely solved. The Louisiana state government has acknowledged that even with its restoration program, it cannot build enough land to offset the losses. Under the principle of stewardship, we understand that the poor are affected first and worst, which is clearly seen in coastal Louisiana. Not only are the poor affected more because they often live on the front lines of environmental decay but also because, as a culture, we rush to protect more affluent communities first. More resources are allocated to protect New Orleans from flooding than coastal fishing communities like Jean Lafitte. Within the coastal towns though, residents have upheld stewardship in their communion with the area and reciprocal understanding of how to care for

“Resettling The First American ‘Climate Refugees’” is a New York Times article written by Coral Davenport and Campbell Robertson. Isle De Jean Charles, Louisiana has lost more than 90% of its land mass since 1955 because of climate change. The tribes on this island have had to change their hunting and gathering habits, because many of the trees and animals have died. This southeastern Louisiana Island is home of both the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe and the United Houma Nation tribe.

After reading the chapter “Multidimensional Thinking and the Coast,” I was surprised at some of the claims made by Gene Turner. He firmly defends that the dredging of the canals is mainly the reason for the loss of Louisiana’s wetlands. The text states, “Not only do the canals account for the 12 percent of wetland losses resulting directly from digging, but they also account for the other 88 percent of losses.” I’m not quite fully convinced in that theory, I believe that there is more than one thing at play here. Canals have surely opened the doors for saltwater intrusion that destroys the wetlands, but they are just a part of the puzzle. Levee building and the control of the Mississippi River also have huge impact on the deltaic cycle. Another

While reading this section of the book, I was very astonished at the actions of humans in the last century. We have disrupted the natural process of delta building. By placing levees along the Mississippi river, we have been successful in providing flood protection from the river overflowing its banks but have also prevented nature from settling sediment in the wetlands. As a result, all the nutrients that are required for growing land are being carried with the sediment straight out into the Gulf of Mexico, rather than playing their nature-intended role in building Louisiana's coastal wetlands. I’ve seen this firsthand living in South Louisiana, small tracts of land that were once visible tiny islands in the wetlands are now completely gone,

Climate change is here to stay and it is hitting some states harder than others. Louisiana is particularly hard hit. In fact, this boggy, coastal state is one of the hardest hit places in the entire world.

The topic everyone hates to talk about! The issue? Increases in the production of carbon dioxide due to increases in both population growth and motor transportation, tied in with deforestation, are the main causes of rising global temperature. The efficacy? In the last 50 years the global temperature has increased roughly one and a half degrees. That does not seem like a large increase, however, when talking about the global temperature even a dramatic change of a couple of degrees can have massive effects on climate and wildlife. If you look back even further on a global temperature map you can see that in the last 150 years, during global industrialization, global temperature has increased dramatically. The increases in temperature also has analogous effect on water levels, as the global temperature increases, so do our water levels. “Our scenario evaluations show that expected changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level could significantly alter important ecological functions. All of our wildlife indicators were negatively affected by scenarios with less rainfall and more evapotranspiration.” (Catano, 2015.) Christopher Catano is a researcher that is studying the effects of global temperature change on Florida’s estuaries and wildlife. Catano says, “Using projections of climate scenarios for the year 2060, we evaluated how several possible futures could affect wildlife populations (wading birds, fish, alligators, native apple snails, amphibians, threatened and invasive species) across the Everglades landscape and inform planning is already underway.” (Catano,

A Steady Rain, written by Keith Huff, was one of the best things I have enjoyed. It was so simple yet so detailed at the same time. I have never attended a staged reading before. When I walked in I was expecting a big stage with many details that show where the act takes place, but it was not anything like that. When I saw there was a small table with two chairs in a small room with some plastic chairs, I was really surprised. I still could not believe because I saw some curtains behind the table, and I thought maybe the stage would be behind that curtain yet it was not. At the beginning, I thought this was going to be boring, and it will make me sleep but it did not.

A diverse array of species is necessary to maintain ecosystem functions and the ecosystem services upon which humans depend. For example, when water flows through a wetland ecosystem, the water is purified of chemical wastes. Wetlands also help in moderating the flow of water, which thereby minimizes flooding. Wetlands are increasingly being destroyed or degraded, in the United States 50% of wetlands have been damaged, which results in the loss of these services. The destruction of the wetlands that lay along the Gulf Coast is believed to have greatly contributed to the devastating floods associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (Christensen). Biodiversity helps ecosystems respond quickly to disturbances and environmental changes, with the loss of wetlands comes the loss of regulatory and support services, which results in more property damage and deaths from already devastating natural disasters.

Global warming is a major problem when providing a suitable habitat and lifestyle for ample marine life. With sea levels rising there are consequences to plant life in coastal wetlands that can not handle the amount of water being provided. The wetlands are important in their job to protect the species they contain and for stabilizing coastlines. Storms are increasing in magnitude and severity, causing the transport of nutrients to marine life to be disturbed. As shores move further inland animals will have to move and adapt, history has shown how this can decrease populations. In the future both rare and abundant species could become locally extinct, with rare species on the verge of becoming totally extinct.