The 2029 Master Plan’s Second Solicitation Is Open
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has opened the second public solicitation period for the 2029 Coastal Master Plan, and it runs through January 31, 2027. This is a direct, open invitation for the people who live, work, hunt, and fish on Louisiana’s coast to put project ideas in front of the state while the next plan is still being written. The Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF) encourages our members to take them up on it.
Every six years, Louisiana updates its Coastal Master Plan, the science-based blueprint that decides which restoration and protection projects move forward and how they’re prioritized. The 2029 plan (MP29) is being built now, and CPRA is once again asking the public to help shape it.
The first solicitation period, last year, drew 200 public submissions. CPRA screened those along with projects carried over from the 2023 plan and arrived at an initial pool of 146 candidate projects now being run through the master plan models. The second solicitation period, open now through January 31, 2027, is the chance to add to that list and to get additional ideas on the table for consideration before the modeling and plan formulation are finished.
What CPRA Is Looking For
Submissions need to address at least one of the plan’s two primary goals: reducing land loss and reducing storm surge risk. Beyond that, the door is wide. An idea can be anything from a rough concept, a place you know is washing away and a sense of what might hold it, to a fully developed project design. You do not need to be an engineer or a coastal scientist to contribute. If you know a stretch of marsh, a ridge, a shoreline, or a water-control problem that matters, that local knowledge is exactly what this process is built to capture.
Why This Matters for Wildlife and for LWF Members
Coastal restoration and wildlife habitat are the same thing in Louisiana. The marshes, ridges, and estuaries this plan is meant to protect are the wintering grounds for the Mississippi Flyway’s waterfowl and the nurseries for our fisheries. The projects that make it into the Master Plan are the ones that stand the best chance of being funded and built over the coming decades. Getting sound, habitat-minded ideas into the plan early is one of the most practical ways to protect the places we hunt, fish, and care about.
LWF encourages readers to think about the places you know firsthand and to submit them. A project idea rooted in what you’ve watched change over the years carries real weight in this process.
How to Submit, and Where to Learn More
CPRA has made it straightforward to participate, and all the resources are online:
- Start here, at the MP29 website. This is the hub for the solicitation, the project submission process, and the recording and slides from CPRA’s October 30 kickoff webinar, which walks through the timeline and how to submit.
- New to the process? Start with the resource guide: CPRA’s New Project Development Story Map is an approachable introduction to how the Coastal Master Plan works and what makes a good project idea.
- See what’s already been proposed: The New Project Development Map Viewer lets you explore the PS#1 submissions and the growing list of MP29 candidate projects, so you can see what’s already under consideration before you add your own.
- Questions? CPRA’s Master Plan team can be reached at MasterPlan@la.gov.
The deadline is January 31, 2027. That’s enough time to think it through, but not so much that it should wait, the sooner an idea is in, the better positioned it is as the modeling moves forward.
Louisiana’s coast is not going to protect itself, and the Master Plan is the single most important tool the state has for deciding where its restoration dollars go. This is a rare, open invitation to help steer it. We hope our readers will take part.
The Louisiana Wildlife Federation has been the voice of Louisiana’s wildlife and natural resources since 1940.