Gulf Coast welcomes Obama's pledge to restore land

By CAIN BURDEAU Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Residents along the Louisiana coast have long seen wetlands created by the fertile Mississippi River turn into open water.

On Tuesday, they received welcoming news: President Barack Obama pledged to restore the Gulf Coast's degraded coastline.

Though details were vague, the restoration has multibillion-dollar implications for the region's culture and economy and could preserve wildlife endangered by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Coastal advocates have long said the human fabric and economic future of the Gulf Coast are at risk unless more aggressive steps are taken to inject freshwater sediment into Louisiana's estuaries.

About 2,300 square miles of marshland have been lost from the state's coastline since the 1930s.