Louisiana has embraced coastal restoration and mitigation banking as a cure-all to protect the state from hurricanes and improve the environment. But coastal restoration is largely based on the myth of a steady-state ecological system in southern Louisiana. Mitigation banking is, in turn, built on the assumption that economies of scale will produce better results. As the Chef Menteur Pass Mitigation Bank example shows, the myth of coastal restoration has resulted in mitigation banks opening in areas where wetlands degradation is a natural process. The failure of such banks is a fait accompli: Nature will win in the end.
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