Coastal Erosion

Why its so hard to get money....without the politics of "world policemen"

Here is something thats been going on for about 3 to 4 weeks...and its slowly hurting our chances for "loads of money".

Event number 1....a LSU scientist wrote a paper showing more marsh accreation( soil on top of existing marsh) following Rita and Katrina. The data is correct and his analysis is correct. However his paper is short sighted. he compares the marsh accreation to the present activites tha twe are doing and showing a 10 fold increase by hurricanes. Now his paper did not address where that accreation came from....it came from more fragile marsh being "placed" on top of the more inland marsh. Thats is to say the Chandeleur Islands got washed into the Hopedale marsh.

Event number 2....A "big shot" Federal level politician read the paper( or staffer read) and the politician called a Federal scientist fighting to get money and said. "why do you want money for diversion and marsh creation when hurricanes do it naturally and better".

Event Number 3....Another group of scientists writes a counter paper that hasnt made it yet to publication.

Event number 4...(future likely to happen) Politicians read the counter paper adn decide..."you guys dont know enough for us to trust you with billions of dollars." here is a bit more money ( no treally enough) to do some more studies and test projects.

Event 5...rinse lather repeat.

While every one is worried about coastal restoration...not even the scientists who study the problem can agree on what the data means much less how to fix the problem. When I heard about the paper the guy wrote...I was shocked that he could find marsh growth. However after reading it...he is correct but its the things he doesn't say that cause his paper to be a problem for future LA wetlands restoration. The guy is a good scientist and a good guy...he just didnt think how others outside of the field would read and interput his paper.