Event details

WHAT: Press conference, signage unveiling

WHEN: Friday, November 15, 10:00 a.m. CT

WHERE: Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle Viewing Platform Florida Ave at Caffin Ave Lower 9th Ward New Orleans, LA

Background

New educational, interactive signs teach visitors about need for coastal restoration

Each year, thousands of people visit the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle viewing platform in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward. New signage to be unveiled Nov. 15 will help these visitors and residents alike understand what they are seeing when they look out over a cypress ghost swamp in the backyard of a community devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Visitors will learn why the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle is important to the community, what has happened to the area since construction of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) and how the Triangle serves as a portal to the larger land loss issues facing Louisiana’s coast.

WHO: Garret Graves, Chair, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana Charles Allen, Director, Office of Coastal and Environmental Affairs, City of New Orleans James Austin Gray II, Councilmember, New Orleans City Council Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, Councilmember-at-Large, New Orleans City Council (Invited) Arthur Johnson, Executive Director, The Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development Amanda Moore, Greater New Orleans Program Manager, National Wildlife Federation

More information about the signs: While at the viewing platform, visitors will have numerous opportunities to interact with the signs and the natural area around them. They can scan a QR code with their smartphones and watch videos about Bayou Bienvenue and other coastal restoration projects on the accompanying website. Visitors can use their phones to sign an action alert or text “BAYOU” to donate to the CSED’s coastal outreach program, call to listen to locals and coastal experts further discuss the coastal crisis facing Louisiana, sign up for volunteer opportunities with local organizations, as well as sign an electronic guestbook via Instagram.

This signage project is a product of The Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED), Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

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Questions: Contact Amanda at 504-273-4838 or Arthur at 504-324-9955

Amanda R. Moore National Wildlife Federation Greater New Orleans Program Manager Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign 8222 Maple Street New Orleans, LA 70118 office: (504) 273-4838 cell: (504) 442-2702 www.mississippiriverdelta.org www.mrgomustgo.org