Louisiana Impact

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

The port of New Orleans was controlled by France. France eventually gave over the rights to Spain. Spain didn’t want a vast majority of new settlers coming into the land, so Spain closed New Orleans and the lower part of the Mississippi to any foreigners. Spain eventually gave the rights of navigation and exploration of the land and New Orleans Port over to the Americans. France soon gained a new leader by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a powerful tiny man who took over a vast majority of land in Europe. Spain gave the Louisiana territory to Napoleon, because of the gigantic size of the property.

During the Westward expansion it impacted many people's lives. Americans were proud of what they did and accomplished, but didn't realize what truly was happening in other people’s lives. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and it doubled the size of the United States. Progress can be both positive and negative because of the westward expansion, the gold rush, manifest destiny.

My topic is the Louisiana Purchase and why people wanted Louisiana, the hardships of getting the area for the USA, and what happened after the purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was a monumental change to the United States Of America, but there were struggles that you might not have known about.

American society because of the large amount of land and how it helped our economy. In

The Louisiana Purchase is the biggest exchange of land in history. Jefferson’s acquisition of this big piece of land doubled the United States’ size for 15 million dollars. The Louisiana Purchase would have not happen without Napoléon’s loss of interest in the french american empire. At the time, Thomas Jefferson was in office,the president’s political beliefs opposed this to happen, what convinced him? As the United States started to expand, gaining alliance with the most powerful forces on the planet, business and influence started to flourish. New Orleans became the most diverse place in the country both socially and politically.

In Bayou Farewell by Mike Tidwell, Tidwell explores how the Cajuns in Southern Louisiana have been impacted by climate change. Tidwell brings to attention that Louisiana has 40% of the United States’ wetlands, but people do not realize all of the economic benefits and ecosystem services that these wetlands provide. Sadly, these wetlands are being submerged and destroyed at the rate of over a football field an hour. The main causes of Louisiana’s wetlands disappearing are the levees that prevent the Mississippi from dropping rich sediment at the mouth of the river to create barrier islands, and the careless actions of oil and gas companies (creating pipelines everywhere and frequent oil spills).

Jefferson won election for his second term in 1804, however this was a troubling time for him.

Louisiana is gradually declining in size due to the loss of coastal marshes and wetlands. After several years, Louisiana has a big probability of having no land whatsoever. The problem is slowly getting larger, and if something isn’t performed, soon enough Louisiana will be a place that only contains water. Regarding coastal erosions, it alters places economically, environmentally, and socially. Natural events happen that leads to the destruction of Louisiana’s wetlands; however, human activities causes it too.

The loss of Louisiana coastal land is one of the most major factors in our environment today. Louisiana has already loss 1,880 square miles of land in the past eight decades. This problem is effecting the state funding to help solve the problem before the state lose more coastal land. Human disturbance has had a massive impact on the balance of wetland growth and decline. (Wilson, 2013). In order to stop this situation the state needs to have a stronger structural protection for the coast line. (Wilson, 2013).

Though well accomplished for the common good of Louisiana, Huey Long is known as the greatest and worst governor of Louisiana. After his death we still feel the effects of his leadership. There are still free books in schools, free healthcare still exists as well as some free education for qualifying individuals. On the other hand he has also paved the way for corruption in the Louisiana political arena such as people like Governor Edward Edwards who was also plagued with much

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

Attention Getter- Louisiana has lost over 1900 square miles of wetlands, and continues to lose 25-35 square miles of wetlands each year. That equals out to a football field of land lost each hour. 2

Over the last few decades, the loss of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands has become a point of concern because of the vital roles the wetlands play in the environment. They have been destroyed over time because of natural causes such as hurricanes and weather as well as from the construction of man-made flood-control levees. Wetlands serve many purposes within the environment. Not only do the wetlands effect the residents of southern Louisiana, but they effect the animals that call the wetlands home as well as the industries that thrive off the wetlands. Since the wetlands have begun to disappear, steps have been taken in order to prevent Louisiana’s wetlands from disappearing. Restoration acts have been put in to place by the government to help

If this rate of Louisiana’s wetlands being lost, the state will lose another fifteen percent by the year 2050. With these numbers being said, Mark stated “Louisiana’s coastline has been losing wetlands at a rate of 16.57 square miles a year during the past 25 years, equal to the loss of a football field of coast every hour, according to a study released today by the U.S. Geologicial Survey” (Mark).This loss of wetlands is five square miles a year faster than a study showed between 1985 and 2004.