ACT NOW: Stop the Army Corps from Destroying Wetlands

 

ACTION ALERT

Stop the Army Corps from Draining Thousands of Acres of Wetlands

Speak out to protect hemispherically important wetlands in the Mississippi Flyway. Take Action The Yazoo Pumps would drain and damage tens of thousands of acres of wetlands that support 29 million migrating birds annually, such as Roseate Spoonbills. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has renewed an unprecedented effort to build the wasteful, environmentally devastating Yazoo Backwater Pumps Project. You can take action today to help ensure this project—which would drain and damage 90,000 acres of wetlands in Mississippi’s South Delta—is abandoned once and for all. Mississippi Flyway wetlands are some of our nation’s richest habitats that support over 450 species of birds, fish, and wildlife, and are used by 29 million migrating birds each year1. These areas must be protected. In its latest plan for the Yazoo Backwater Area, the Corps has selected a “preferred alternative” that includes building the largest hydraulic pumping plant in the world and operating it to benefit industrial-scale agriculture. But nature-based and non-structural solutions that don’t include pumps would provide effective, environmentally sustainable flood relief for local communities while benefiting wetlands and wildlife.  Effective, commonsense flood relief measures, such as elevating homes and compensating farmers to restore cropland to wetlands, would help people and birds—solutions that many local community members have asked for.   Tell the Army Corps to pursue a natural infrastructure solution—not the Yazoo Pumps—to protect local communities and birds that depend on the Mississippi Flyway. Please take action before the very short window of opportunity to comment closes on August 12.

Sincerely,

Brian Moore Vice President of Coastal Policy National Audubon Society

1These findings are based on 2020 analyses by the National Audubon Society, using data from eBird Status & Trends from Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Partners in Flight Population Estimates Database from Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.

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Photo: Marjie Goldberg/Audubon Photography Awards

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