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For the Bayou was founded in San Francisco
in 2008 by Louisiana natives to increase public awareness of the
disappearing Louisiana coastal wetlands, to foster restoration
and protection of this culturally significant coastal environment
and to aid and assist the people of Louisiana in the event of a
disaster. We are a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. All directors
and officers of the organization are non-paid volunteers.
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A RECENT PLANTING FUNDED BY FOR THE BAYOU
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
by Page Perry
2010 brought tragedy, as well as many new challenges to the Gulf Coast and
its people, wetlands, waters and animals. In the midst of these confrontations,
For the Bayou worked diligently to make a positive difference for Louisiana's
coast and people. Total donations from For the Bayou in 2010 to wetland
and coastal habitat restoration as well as humanitarian assistance in the wake
of the BP oil spill totaled $39,450.
The first, annual Bay for the Bayou 2010 event
in San Francisco was a huge success thanks to many Louisiana musicians, artists
and volunteers who donated their time and talent last September, we were able
to raise over $40,000. View pictures from the event
at www.flickr.com/photos/forthebayou.
From this successful event, we donated $25,000 to
the Restore the Earth Foundation for the Gulf Saver
Solutions Initiative; this donation helped to conduct
the first major restorative wetland planting since the BP oil
spill in December 2010. Oil was found in the area with
almost every footstep and with every dig.
Rather than planting native marsh grasses as
independent plants, this initiative seeks to implement a new
wetlands restoration technique of planting Gulf
Saver Bags, a pre-assembled package of native
marsh grasses in a US Army Corps of Engineers standard biodegradable "burlap
(sand) bag", that is filled with an all natural humus
mix that helps in breaking down oil.
The Gulf Saver Solutions Initiative is
coordinating several projects to deploy thousands of Gulf
Saver environmental bags to restore native marsh grasses
in wetland habitats at Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management
Area (WMA), in southern Plaquemines Parish. The first
of these plantings went forward on December 16 and 17, when
a crew of volunteers, in cooperation with the Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Coalition to Restore Coastal
Louisiana traveled by airboat to distribute Gulf Saver Bags
at the Wildlife Management Area that forms the southeast
tip of Plaquemines Parish where the Mississippi River empties
into the Gulf of Mexico. Click
here for pictures and details of the planting.
The wetland habitat within the Pass a Loutre WMA provides a
natural home and breeding grounds for shrimp, crabs, oysters,
and more than five million migratory birds. The southeastern
Louisiana shoreline wetlands and barrier islands are the first
line of defense protecting the area's populations against storm
surge and tidal fluctuations.
This was the first wetlands restoration project in Louisiana
since the Gulf Oil spill and we are proud to have supported
this planting and future projects in the area. We will
be sure to keep you updated on the progress of these plantings
throughout the year!
You can continue to support these efforts
by making a donation to For the
Bayou or directly to Gulf Saver Solutions www.gulfsaversolutions.com. You
can also volunteer to plant. Please sign up with the Coalition
to Restore Coastal Louisiana at www.crcl.org or
call 1.888.522.6278.
The remaining monies from our Bay For the Bayou Benefit
2010 will be allocated this spring to go toward further
wetland and habitat restoration along Louisiana's coast. Thank
you to all of you, musicians, artists and volunteers who assisted
in this major effort! We look forward to having you back in
the Bay Area to showcase your talent and to assist us in restoring
Louisiana’s coast.
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THE CRISIS
The BP Gulf Oil Disaster is the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States. The damage to the wetlands, wildlife, waters, people and businesses of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast are yet to be quantified. The emergency needs of the people and wildlife are increasing daily and are in need of your help.
WE ARE...
for the alligators, for the brown pelicans, for the white pelicans,
for the speckled trout, for the red drum, for the black drum, for the
sac-au-lait, for the snapping turtles, for the cypress, for the mangroves,
for the bald eagles, for the silver seatrout, for the sand seatrout,
for the tricolored heron, for the great blue heron, for the reddish
egret, for the green heron, for the woodstork, for the little blue
heron, for the hooked mussel, for the blue crab, for the Louisiana
oysters, for the choupique, for the brown shrimp, for white shrimp,
for the Gulf menhaden “pogy”, for the gulf kingfish, for the southern
kingfish, for the squid, for the bayou, for the pink
shrimp, for the rock shrimp, for the alligator gar, for the marsh deer,
for the crawfish, for the snapper, for the tarpon, for the blue, flathead
and channel catfish, for the buffalo fish, for the crappie, for the
shad, for the pallad, Atlantic and shovelnose sturgeon, for the paddlefish,
for the pink flamingos, for the mallards, for the Canada goose, for
the teal, for the pintail, for the wigeon, for the poule d’eau, for
the grosbec, for the chorook, for the papabotte, for the Louisiana
racoons, for the Louisiana black bears, for the garfish, for the beaver,
for the muskrat, for the otter, for the mink, for the bayou,
for the bobcat, for the opossum, for the rabbit, for the squirrels,
for the toads, for the striped mullet, for the silver mullet, for the
yellow, white and striped bass, for the bluegill, for the bowfin, for
the freshwater drum, for the ling, for the king and Spanish mackerel,
for the hawks, for the owls, for the ground orchid, for the hyacinths,
for the Louisiana quillwort, for the American chaffseed, for the snails,
for the sea turtles, for the snowy egret, for the cattle egret, for
the roseate spoonbill, for the night herons, for the great-egret, for
the ibises, for the armadillo, for the tree frogs, for the snakes,
for the alligator snapping turtles, for the water moccasin, for
the bayou, for the
canebrake rattlesnake, for the Louisiana blue star, for the southern lady’s-slipper, for the long-sepaled false
dragon-head, for the parrot pitcherplant, for the gopher tortoise,
for the Louisiana pearlshell mussel, for the red-cockaded woodpecker,
for the gulf killifish “cocahoe”, for the sheepshead minnows, for the
bay anchovies, for the fiddler crabs, for the Atlantic croaker, for
the southern flounder, for the Atlantic sheephead, for the white alligator,
for the millions of migratory waterfowl and the thousands of other
plants and animals that are rapidly losing habitat in Louisiana’s wetlands,
for the Cajuns, for the coast of Louisiana... |
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