Preface

Louisiana's coast and coastal communities have experienced numerous natural and human-induced disasters over the past decade as environmental, social, and economic vulnerability have increased with continued land loss, increased hurricanes, and the effects of climate change. In response to the hurricanes of 2005, the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2005, which formed the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and tasked it with the development and five-year updates of a comprehensive protection and restoration master plan, commonly referred to as Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan.

CPRA produced the first coastal master plan, which was a ground-breaking effort to integrate coastal protection and coastal restoration, in 2007. This 18-month planning process produced an award-winning report that established goals and objectives and synthesized decades of coastal thinking about projects and solutions. The 2007 Coastal Master Plan became the starting point for the 2012 Coastal Master Plan effort....