LWF has submitted comments on the draft 2023 Coastal Master Plan and the draft Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Plan to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
LWF has been pleased with CPRA’s continued commitment to improving community outreach and engagement efforts as well as working with organizations like LWF to provide local communities additional opportunities to discuss coastal issues in more informal settings that allow dialogue not available during official public hearings.
LWF’s comments on the draft 2023 Coastal Master Plan focused on additional ways to improve outreach and engagement as well as increase accessibility of the information.
Outreach and engagement efforts have greatly improved over the years, and this has been no exception for the draft 2023 Coastal Master Plan. LWF applauds CPRA’s efforts to engage with community partners through the Community Conversation meetings held in nine communities across the coast. Having these more informal meetings that offer conversational engagement with residents in their local communities is a critical part of the outreach and engagement process and we strongly encourage CPRA to continue these dialogues in the future.
The draft Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Plan shows a promising year for the construction of major coastal projects.
Overall, LWF is very pleased with the progress the state is making on coastal projects and moving so many significant projects to construction, particularly projects reconnecting the Mississippi River to the landscape like the River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp and the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion projects. We are excited to see the significant increase in expenditures going towards these projects in the next fiscal year.
Read LWF’s full comments on the draft 2023 Coastal Master Plan.
Read LWF’s full comments on the draft FY24 Annual Plan.