A group of local, state and national leaders kicked off a series of public planning sessions Tuesday in an attempt to prevent further coastal erosion.
The first meeting of the Blue Ribbon Resilient Communities initiative, sponsored by America’s Wetland Foundation and America’s Energy Coast, was held in Lake Charles.
BRRC aims to gather input from coastal leaders and citizens in developing a plan to fight erosion.
“The strategy that we are to develop is … from the local level,” said John Hankinson, executive director of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.
President Barack Obama created the Task Force with an Oct. 15 executive order in response to the BP oil spill. The group coordinates federal and state efforts to restore the Gulf Coast.
“The challenge is enormous,” Hankinson said. “This is a strong message to the people of the nation that this area is important.”
Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne, who co-chaired the meeting with Hankinson, said coastal erosion is one of Louisiana’s most pressing problems.
“In a few short decades, if nothing’s done, there is going to be a simple ribbon of water, the Mississippi, connecting New Orleans and Louisiana,” Dardenne said. “The rest of the landmasses that we know as Southern Louisiana will not be there. That’s the harsh scientific reality.”
Dardenne said BRRC helps to “literally chart the future of Louisiana.”
The Lake Charles meeting is the first of 11 scheduled throughout Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Four more events are scheduled for Louisiana, including in St. Mary, Iberia, Lafourche, Terrebonne, Plaquemines and Orleans parishes.
The organization plans to pay about $50 billion to Gulf coastal restoration programs over 20 years.
The plan, organizers said, would pay for itself, preventing more than $137 billion in economic losses in that 20-year period.
Event speakers emphasized the area’s economic impact, citing a $634 billion annual GDP and more than $2 trillion in assets. Speakers argued that increasing storm damage caused by erosion risks those assets.
In addition to hearing citizen input, the meetings will hopefully educate area residents about the potential effects of coastal erosion and potential solutions for stopping it.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]