Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar and Dr. Gene Turner present the project.
Gray, LA - On January 27th, the National Estuary Program announced a $246,386 grant to the Lowlander Center to fund a new effort designed to mitigate land loss in coastal Louisiana. The man-made canals are causing significant coastal land loss and having a disproportionate impact on Native Americans and other bayou communities. The grant is an important first step towards filling in those canals, which could limit that damage and begin to reverse it.
“By coastal restoration standards, backfilling canals is a simple solution to a really serious problem,” said R. Eugene Turner, a LSU Boyd Professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and participant. “We’re proud to be receiving this grant so that we can continue this work, which has proven to be effective in the past.”
The grant will enable the partnership between the Pointe au Chien Indian Tribe, the Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe, the Grand Bayou Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha Tribe and the Lowlander Center to mitigate erosion from canals and identify which ones threaten to erode burial sites and other areas that are sacred to the state’s indigenous coastal tribes. The project will also allow the Lowlander Center to begin working to fill or plug unused canals, which are causing significant land erosion, damaging crops, and making it harder for tribes with centuries-old connections to the land to safely remain in their homes and support themselves and their families.
“This will ultimately save tribal communities along the coast,” said Shirell Parfait-Dardar, Chief of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians. “Sacred sites have been lost to coastal erosion in Louisiana, and many families have been forced to relocate from sacred lands due to the effects of land loss. The implementation of this project will help restore much of what’s been lost throughout the years.”
Thanks to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Restore America’s Estuaries for selecting us as part of this year’s Coastal Watershed Grants awardees. The National Estuary Program’s Coastal Watersheds Grant Program funds projects that support Congressionally-set priorities to restore coastal bodies of water throughout the United States.
The award is titled “Lagniappe for the working coast: reducing flood risk and protecting sacred sites and tribal communities’ resilience by strengthening Louisiana’s marshes.” The grant is for the Project Site(s) Assessment and Preliminary Design Phase and to begin the implementation phase. The dollar amount awarded is $246,385.