While the science is clear – wetlands have lots of benefits and we know how to build more of them – the future is not. The growing Wax Lake Delta provided data for the now-stalled Mid-Barataria sediment diversion, which is designed to rebuild wetlands in nine parishes along the Louisiana Gulf Coast.
In the wake of federal rollbacks, states are now choosing whether to further degrade or expand wetlands protections. Some conservationists fear that a loss of protections will increase the price of mitigation credits while decreasing the demand.
Arkansas has no state laws specifically for wetland protection, leading conservationists to depend on funds raised by duck stamps. But waterfowl populations are under increasing threats leading to fewer ducks, and ultimately fewer hunters, and fewer dollars to protect the ducks and the wetlands they call home.
Nearly all of the wetlands in Minnesota’s prairie region have been destroyed. Many of the few that remain – an estimated 5% of the total before settlement – were saved by duck hunters.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Sackett ruling, the Biden Administration estimated that up to 63% of the nation’s remaining wetland acres could lose federal protections.
Given that mistake, parents question whether the school is financially ready to repair McDonogh 15 in the French Quarter.
Since prisoners challenged conditions on the Farm Line, state officials have implemented policies making them even worse, lawyers contend.
State and district school officials argue that they’ve complied with a 2015 federal civil-rights judgment. But lawyers representing students who still aren’t getting adequate special ed services say that school officials may be complying with the letter of the law, but not the spirit of it.
Council members say they feel beholden to the November agreement that they’d forged with the school board. And though the mayor backed out of the proposal, citing a tight city budget, council members see no worrisome shortfalls ahead, they say.
Anthony Hingle Jr. didn’t touch beads or feathers for 32 years. Now he’s back in town, continuing the work of his father, Flagboy Meathead, a legend among Black Masking Indians.
