Gulf Coast oil spill: one year later

By Andi Cooper, Southern Regional Office, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

NASA image acquired May 24, 2010. Sunlight illuminated the lingering oil slick off the Mississippi Delta on May 24, 2010.

The BP Deepwater Horizon disaster saw about 4.9 million barrels of oil pour into the Gulf of Mexico last year. Thankfully the worst-case scenario of migrating birds encountering heavily oiled marshlands around the Gulf did not materialize.

“Unusually high spring and summer Mississippi River levels and maximum operation of freshwater diversions kept oil at bay in the Gulf, and actually created some excellent marsh conditions,” says Tom Moorman, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.’s (DU) director of conservation planning in the Southern Region Office (SRO). “When the millions of waterfowl arrived last fall, they found plentiful food resources in the marshes, particularly in southeast Louisiana.”

In drought-stricken southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas, waterfowl heavily used flooded agricultural fields which were provided through the combined efforts of Ducks Unlimited, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and farmers. The partnership resulted in the establishment of 80,000 acres of alternative habitat, to counter the potential of the spilled oil coming ashore and impacting the vulnerable coastal wetlands – often this turned out to be the only water in the drought-affected area over the winter.

DU remains deeply concerned about the long-term fate of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands. One positive outcome of the spill was dramatically increased attention on the plight of Gulf Coast wetlands.

“These marshes are among the most threatened yet most important waterfowl wintering grounds on the continent,” says Jerry Holden, DU’s SRO director of conservation programs. “Louisiana has already lost over one million acres and on average another 50 acres of coastal wetlands is being destroyed daily.”

Waterfowl, other wildlife and people who depend on Louisiana’s wetlands cannot sustain such losses much longer, yet hope remains. That is why Ducks Unlimited has been conserving and restoring Louisiana’s coastal wetlands for more than 25 years.

“DU is making strides on the ground and conserved our 100,000th acre in 2010,” Holden says. “However, the future of Louisiana’s wetlands also depends upon public policy to drive large-scale restoration work.”

DU is forging a leading role in conserving Louisiana’s coastal wetlands. In 2010, Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Ducks Unlimited CEO H. Dale Hall to the Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation. This commission advises the governor on the status of Louisiana’s coastal protection and restoration program.

“It’s hard to overstate how important these wetlands are for North America’s waterfowl, other wildlife, and ultimately for waterfowl hunters and people across the continent,” Hall said. “DU will continue to stand strong with the commission, and with all of our conservation partners, to ensure coastal Louisiana’s wetlands exist for generations to come.”

Conserving Gulf Coast wetlands was one of DU’s top five priorities long before the disaster, and while most headlines are now gone, conserving the coast will remain a cornerstone of DU’s efforts in North America.