Richard Condrey

We demonstrate that:

Louisiana’s $50 billion coastal restoration plan relies on a mathematically impossible curve drawn through an improbable manipulation of a small dataset.

The dataset contains five pairs of year and coastal land coordinates best fit by a simple linear regression which suggests the 1932-1990 coast was losing land at a catastrophic rate of -72 km2/yr (-1.5 football fields/hr) when the plan was developed in the 1990s.  

The plan did not explore this possibility. Rather the plan:

1.“concluded” that its mathematically impossible curve “show[ed]” the rate of coastal land loss rose from a 1930s “background” rate to an “extreme value” and then “dropped by 1990”, 

2.“chose 1974 through 1990 as the most appropriate base period to determine future loss” which it defined as a “60-year projection into the future” that would occur even with “a possible increase in sea level rise”,

3.assumed that with “current restoration effort we should prevent about 22% of the predicted loss”, and

4.established a 60-year restoration goal to be accomplished by implementing restoration projects at ~16 km2/yr from 1990-2050.

We find no evidence that the goal has been met or that the fatally flawed plan has, or will, work (Condrey et al. in press; Condrey et al. 2025; Condrey et al. 2014. all available on request at coecnd@lsu.edu).

Richard Condrey

Undaunted by winds of winter, war, and treason, Louis de Mun completed the first leg of his congressionally mandated survey of our coast on March 8, 1807, and had the revenue cutter Louisiana sail for New Orleans. He was confident Albert Galatin, President Jefferson’s Treasury Secretary, would authorize the second leg. Why not?  The first had been remarkably successful. In less than five months, he had explored and mapped the eastern end of the Great Barrier Reef of the Americas, the western reaches of the Mississippi delta, and a lighthouse site at Blaize. Moreover, he had discovered the threat posed by Europe’s use of the western delta as a ‘backdoor’ to the Territories of Orleans and Louisiana. And his results supported Gallatin’s hypothesis that the Mississippi’s active delta extended to the Atchafalaya, was lined by shoals, and consisted of navigable streams communicating with the Mississippi. 

In the 1990’s, when Louisiana’s coastal restoration plan was first developed, its authors had no institutional awareness of de Mun’s survey or the reef’s history.  Rather they developed a ‘plan’ based on a mathematically impossible interpretation of a statistically improbable manipulation of five data points. Here we explore the currently known treads of de Mun’s survey and life in the hopes finding his missing survey maps, notebooks, and correspondence confident that these contain invaluable coastal restoration guidance given de Mun’s faithful testing of Gallatin’s hypothesis.

Fahim Muntasir Rabbi, Eric Booth

Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm that originate from the fragmentation and degradation of larger plastic debris. In recent years, increasing concern has emerged regarding their widespread occurrence, particularly in aquatic environments. The physical properties of MPs, such as density, shape, and size, play a critical role in determining their vertical distribution within the water column, their deposition in sediments, and their presence in benthic habitats. Additionally, particle size influences their uptake pathways in biological organisms and subsequent accumulation within tissues. In contrast, the chemical composition of MPs determines their hazardous potential and associated health risks to humans and aquatic biota. Therefore, evaluating the risks associated with microplastic exposure requires consideration of both their physical characteristics and the inherent toxicity of the constituent polymers. This study investigates the distribution of MPs in water, sediments, and biological tissues, including gills, gastrointestinal tracts, and muscle of crabs and catfish from Lake Maurepas. The results describe the physical and chemical characteristics of the identified microplastics, followed by the application of a polymer-based hazard indexing approach to evaluate their potential risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health in Lake Maurepas.

Erin Erwin

Thermal stratification and seasonal turnover are physical processes that influence the water quality of a lake via vertical mixing, oxygen distribution and biogeochemical interactions. This study investigates the role of stratification and seasonal turnover in the structure of dissolved oxygen, algal activity and heavy metal availability in Lake Maurepas over a time period of two years (2024-2025). Buoy measurements include temperature, dissolved oxygen (concentration and saturation), pH, conductivity, and electrical conductivity. Surface temperature and algal activity over the study period is derived via satellite data and heavy metals concentrations are detected from weekly field samples using microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry machinery. Time series analysis is performed to determine the associated patterns between oxygen availability, turbidity and surface algal dynamics. Satellite derived algal indicators develop the relationship between how the lake processes these biological and physical conditions. Heavy metals are interpreted in relation to oxygen and pH regimes to investigate the potential links between redox condition and heavy metal behavior within the system.  These parameters provide clear insight into the potential interactions between physical conditions and the overall water quality over the selected study period.  This is intended to broaden the understanding of physical and biochemical coupling in lake Maurepas. 

Jeff Dacosta Osei, Y. A. Twumasi, Zhu Ning, Dorcas Twumwaa Gyan, Esi Dadzie, Kingsford Kobina Annan, Lucinda Kangwana, Janeth Ernest Mjemaa

Manchac Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is tightly connected to Lake Maurepas through Pass Manchac and adjacent swamp–wetland hydrology, making habitat quality and management operations sensitive to lake-wide sediment and water-quality fluctuations. This study demonstrates a repeatable satellite remote sensing workflow to quantify turbidity dynamics in Lake Maurepas and translate results into actionable guidance for Manchac WMA. Multispectral satellite imagery was processed into monthly cloud-screened composites from January 2023 to December 2025. The Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) was computed for each month to generate spatial turbidity maps and a lake-wide mean NDTI time series describing seasonal and interannual variability. The record shows pronounced cyclic behavior. Elevated turbidity (positive NDTI) occurred most consistently in late winter to spring, with strong peaks in early 2023 and February–March 2024 (mean NDTI ~0.13) and renewed high conditions during early 2025 (~0.10). Clearer-water conditions (negative NDTI) persisted in late summer to autumn, notably August–November 2023 and September–November 2025, when mean NDTI approached −0.10. Spatial patterns reveal recurring turbidity hotspots along nearshore margins and southern sectors, indicating consistent zones of sediment resuspension and/or inflow influence that can advect toward the Manchac corridor. 

Titilope Olokunde

Louisiana’s forest policy and planning are increasingly shaped by southern utilization shifts that influence forest conditions, management feasibility, and risk exposure across the U.S. South. This scoping review observes the dominant forest resource utilization trends and drivers reported for the U.S. South and translates the evidence into planning-relevant implications for Louisiana’s statewide forestry strategy. The review is grounded in the conceptual and measurement approaches used by the USDA Forest Service to assess forest conditions and utilization, including Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) status-and-trend reporting and National Resource Use Monitoring/Timber Products Output (NRUM/TPO) concepts that connect removals to wood product outputs and residues. Evidence is drawn from peer-reviewed studies and authoritative federal and state reports, then transformed into a policy translation framework. This framework is aligned with Louisiana’s Forest Action Plan priorities, which are expanding active management on private lands, addressing forest health threats, and strengthening wildland fire management, while enhancing public benefits from trees and forests. Findings are converted into “planning indicators” that identify areas of strong cross-source convergence (higher confidence), areas where Louisiana-specific conditions indicate the need for tailored interventions, and evidence gaps that constrain policy choices.