A state coastal restoration plan that will be financed by new federal offshore oil revenues is nearing completion in Louisiana. The plan will address the rapid loss of coastal wetlands, a problem that has been ongoing in Louisiana but that finally won strong national attention after 2005's devastating hurricanes.

Louisiana contains 40% of the coastal wetlands in the Lower 48, and these wetlands furnish rich habitat for fish, shellfish and waterfowl. They also provide natural protection from storm surges, and help shield communities, marine traffic, and gas and oil infrastructure from the effects of tropical storms and hurricanes.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 217 square miles of Louisiana's coastal lands were transformed to water after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The most affected areas were in Cameron Parish and Breton Sound. In the area between Calcasieu Lake, in Cameron Parish, and White Lake, in Vermilion Parish, 62 square miles of land disappeared when marshes were flooded. Not all this land may be permanently gone, however, as some flooded portions may still recover.

But the scale of the destruction is alarming, especially when added to the 1,900 square miles of coastal lands Louisiana lost between 1932 and 2000, according to USGS estimates. The powerful 2005 hurricanes have already taken 42% of the total land expected to be lost between 2000 and 2050, even with storms factored in.

The lost land-primarily marsh-makes Louisiana's vast and varied coastal infrastructure more vulnerable to future storms. In 2005, the intense hurricanes ripped and removed vegetation, causing large marsh shears both in areas of historical land loss and in areas that previously were stable. Land was also directly obliterated by storm surges.

Now, the federal government has stepped in with an approach to offshore oil and gas royalties that should benefit Louisiana and its coastal neighbors.

The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, passed by Congress and signed into law in December, says royalties on new areas of production from 8.3 million acres of offshore federal lands involved in Sale Area 181, in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, will be divided 37.5% to Gulf producing states (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama), 12.5% to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (a fund that builds parks and preserves green spaces in all states), and 50% to the federal treasury.

A big bump in state revenues will come in 2016, when new leases in existing planning areas will be subject to the same formula. That will spread the states' shares into the prolific Central and Western portions of the Gulf.

Louisiana's split of this pot of federal royalty payments is expected to be $20 million each year for the next 10 years and roughly $650 million a year from 2017 onward. Although the law outlines that money received by the states must be spent on coastal protection, mitigation of damages, or planning and administration, Louisiana went a step further and passed a constitutional amendment that directs its share of the funds specifically to wetlands restoration, hurricane protection and flood-control projects.

Coastal restoration is obviously not new to Louisiana-it and the federal government have been funding projects to protect the fragile lands since 1990. Louisiana has received some $50 million in federal funds annually for coastal projects under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act. Moreover, it has contributed a 15% match to those dollars.

During the past 15 years, the existing program has approved 78 projects at a cost of $625 million that will reestablish or protect 110 square miles and enhance 500 square miles of wetlands. The projects employ a variety of approaches, including river diversion, marsh creation, stabilization of barrier islands, and sediment traps. Another 47 projects are in the engineering and design phases, and these will affect another 300 square miles.

Nonetheless, Louisiana has launched an even more aggressive campaign. In 2006, it formed a single-state entity that is responsible for implementing and enforcing the state's objectives. The agency is developing a comprehensive coastal plan that it will submit to Louisiana's legislature this spring.

The state will likely sell bonds on the future revenue stream from the offshore royalties to allow it to access money immediately for its upcoming protection and restoration plans.

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