Posted on November 5, 2025
Louisiana has lost nearly 2,000 square miles of land since the 1930s.
To put that into perspective, that is more land than if New Orleans, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago were combined. By a lot.
In response to this crisis, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority hosted its third annual “Community Coastal Day” on Sunday at the LSU Center for River Studies.
“You hope people walk away to come back with an understanding of how the coast was formed, and why we’re in this situation we are and what work is happening,” said Clint Willson, the dean of LSU’s College of the Coast and Environment.
Community Coastal Day featured booths ranging from the LSU College of the Coast and Environment to Ducks Unlimited to the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. Together, these organizations spread across the state — and sometimes even further — to achieve the goal of restoring and protecting the coast.
Scheduled on the first Sunday of the month, the same day as when many Baton Rouge museums offer free entry, the event aimed to bring visitors to the River Studies Center, which is usually closed to the public.
CPRA Communications Director Ryan Shaw said that through events like this, visitors can learn about the work that goes into saving the coast of Louisiana and even be inspired to volunteer. Even more, she said that she hopes it can help people see that the deterioration of the coast is a problem that can be mitigated.
“I think there are a lot of people who think that Louisiana’s land loss issues and Louisiana’s coast are kind of a lost cause, and that’s definitely not true,” Shaw said.
Those not roaming the booths could catch a show on the Lower Mississippi River Physical Model. The 10,000 square foot model — the size of two basketball courts — is based on the topography and bathymetry of the Mississippi River Delta. It replicates the flow of the water, different water levels and sediment transport of the part of the river in southeast Louisiana.
The show talked about the importance of the programs and organizations at the event. It also highlighted the work CPRA does and technology such as the river model, which is used by scientists, engineers, students and more.
Coastal restoration is a job for every field, concentration and interest, Willson said. This means that someone does not have to be a scientist or in a STEM field to get involved. He emphasized the importance of the work from humanities majors, such as oral history projects, to engineers who build the technology and facilities they work in and even those in religious studies fields who focus on the impact of Catholicism on the environment.
“There’s opportunities for students to do that across the entire campus,” Willson said.
CPRA is tasked with coastal protection and restoration for Louisiana. Founded in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the federal government wanted to create a group to focus on combatting the aftermath of hurricanes and other coastal erosion issues.
The group’s coastal master plans get updated every six years to serve as a guide on the steps they need to take to win what Shaw called “the fight” against coastal erosion. CPRA is also a major resource for places like the LSU Center for River Studies and the College of the Coast and Environment’s programs.
“We’ve seen a lot of success with a lot of our projects,” Shaw said. “A lot of our partners are doing things that are really encouraging and really showing a lot of potential for future growth.”
One of those partners is the Atchafalya National Heritage Area. Executive Director Caroline Cassagne said that her team has been working with CPRA on a couple of different projects, such as the Atchafalya Master Plan Working Group.
The program is a part of the National Park Service, which means that their cultural, natural, historical and recreational resources have a national significance. Cassagne said that this goes beyond just the area’s water heritage and how it influences the state’s food habits, but also Louisiana’s French dialect.
“I think it’s important to engage with the public in a facility like this, as well as for us to network with other people that are here,” Cassagne said.
For more information on the work CPRA does or to see the latest master plan from 2023, check out their website here.
