Coastal News Roundup: An Airport On Elmer's Island

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Tegan Wendland

Published September 21, 2018 at 4:50 PM CDT

The Head of Passes is seen along the Mississippi River in Louisiana on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.

In this week's coastal news roundup, WWNO's Tegan Wendland talks with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporter Tristan Baurick about a controversial plan to build an airport inside Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge. After undergoing a multimillion-dollar restoration, the south Jefferson Parish refuge teems with birds and other wildlife, including several threatened species. It came as a shock to many conservationists that the state had signed off on an idea to put an airport on protected habitat.

Support for the Coastal Desk comes from the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Foundation for Louisiana, and local listeners.

Coastal Desk

Tegan Wendland

Tegan has reported on the coast for WWNO since 2015. In this role she has covered a wide range of issues and subjects related to coastal land loss, coastal restoration, and the culture and economy of Louisiana’s coastal zone, with a focus on solutions and the human dimensions of climate change. Her reporting has been aired nationally on Planet Money, Reveal, All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace, BBC, CBC and other outlets. She’s a recipient of the Pulitzer Connected Coastlines grant, CUNY Resilience Fellowship, Metcalf Fellowship, and countless national and regional awards.

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