Hike with Friends of Lafitte Corridor

Everyone,
If you're interested in a great hike in the city, this looks like one to take.
Wendy King

PRESS RELEASE/MEDIA ADVISORY
May 11, 2009

Contact:
Bart Everson, President, Friends of Lafitte Corridor
b@rox.com
Office: 504-520-5164
Cell: 812-391-0818

Fifth Annual Hike of the Lafitte Corridor

WHO: Friends of Lafitte Corridor is a local grassroots group advocating for the creation of a greenway along three miles of (mostly) decommissioned rail line in the heart of New Orleans

WHAT: a three-mile hike down the Lafitte Corridor

WHEN: Saturday June 6th, 10:00 AM (National Trails Day)

WHERE: The hike begins at the front gate of Armstrong Park and continues along the Lafitte Corridor (between Lafitte and Saint Louis Streets). We expect to be crossing Carrollton Avenue around noon, stopping for lunch at Massey’s Professional Outfitters and will finish at Canal Blvd around 1:30 PM.

WHY: Our annual hike is designed to raise awareness of the greenway project and demonstrate the widespread support it enjoys in the New Orleans community. This year we will be joined by Rebecca Leonard and Kurt Culbertson from Design Workshop, the firm recently awarded the greenway contract by the City of New Orleans.

A flyer with map is available here:http://b.rox.com/media/hike-5.pdf

May 17th Program: Coastal Louisiana Restoration: From Plan to Action

Amanda Moore, Coastal Louisiana Organizer for the National Wildlife Federation, will review coastal LA restoration goals including increasing community resiliency, expediting big, bold, restoration projects, and generating funding and political will to move projects forward. She is also the coordinator of the MRGO Must Go coalition and will review the latest developments with the MRGO closure and restoration, campaign goals, and upcoming campaign events.

Meeting is on Sunday, May 17. Refreshments at 6:30 PM. Program starts at 7 PM. All Orleans Sierra Club meetings are held in the Audubon Zoos Dominion Auditorium. Parking is free, plentiful, and safe. Call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889 with any questions.

To find our meeting location go to:
http://louisiana.sierraclub.org/neworleans/meetinglocation.asp

Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU

Ivor van Heerden, the outspoken coastal scientist who led the state's independent Team Louisiana investigation into Hurricane Katrina levee failures, has been notified by Louisiana State University that he will be terminated as a research professor in May 2010.

Read more in a Times-Picayune article by Mark Schleifstein on Nola.com:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/ivor_van_heerden_who_pointed_f.html

Bob Marshall the excellent outdoors editor for the Times-Picayune also weighs in:
http://blog.nola.com/guesteditorials/2009/04/worried_about_funding_lsu_oust.html

Jean Lafitte NHP and preserve expanded... finally!

After many years and many false starts, The Barataria Unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park (NHP) and preserve has been expanded. The bill expanding the park was recently signed into law by President Obama.

Nola.com, the Web site of the New Orleans Times Picayune gives all the details in the following article:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1238822638157190.xml&coll=1

See a photo of the park's expansion here:
http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2009/04/park_addition.html

Creating a Bicycle Friendly New Orleans

Creating a Bicycle Friendly New Orleans
Join the Dan Jatres of the Regional Planning Commission and the Nicole McCall of the Metro Bicycle Coalition as they discuss the New Orleans bicycling environment. New Orleans has long had a very large bicycling population, but like many American cities, transportation planning has been focused almost exclusively on motor vehicles for over 60 years. Hurricane Katrina provided New Orleanians with the opportunity to change the city and create more walkable and bikeable neighborhoods. Now, with changes coming to transportation priorities and funding at the federal level, New Orleans has the opportunity to become a national leader in alternative transportation options which will help create livable communities that attract families, promote sustainability and promote economic growth.

Meeting is on Sunday, April 19. Refreshments at 6:30 PM. Program starts at 7 PM. All Orleans Sierra Club meetings are held in the Audubon Zoos Dominion Auditorium. Parking is free, plentiful, and safe. Call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889 with any questions.