The State of Louisiana is embarking on a massive effort to rebuild and restore the coastal barrier islands situated along its shoreline. These barrier islands act to dampen wave energy and tidal surge during tropical storms that erode the islands as well as back-barrier wetlands and coastal lowlands. The barrier island systems are eroding at alarming rates and are projected to effectively disappear by 2012 without intervention or mitigation.

Geological and geophysical studies conducted in Federal waters offshore Louisiana indicates that there are numerous sand deposits which may serve as an ideal source material to restore and replenish the barrier islands. As the demand for sand in OCS waters is likely to be high the next several years, MMS, together with the State of Louisiana, has moved forward and formed the Louisiana Sand Management Working Group (LA-SMWG) in order to formalize an environmentally responsible process for assisting the MMS in planning and decision-making relative to the use of Federal sand for beach nourishment, coastal restoration, and wetlands protection projects along the Louisiana coast.

The LA-SMWG is composed of representatives from Federal, State, and local governments, academia, and industry and serves to assist the MMS in planning and decision-making relative to the use of Federal sand for beach nourishment, coastal restoration, and wetlands protection projects along the Louisiana coast.

	Charter of the Louisiana Sand Management Task Force Regional Management Strategies for Federal Offshore Borrow Areas, U.S. East and Gulf of Mexico Coasts, JCR. Vol. 20, Number 1 March 2004 LA-SMWG Members
	Louisiana Sand Management Working Group: Agendas and Meeting Minutes: April 25, 2006 February 2, 2005 March 3, 2004 May 14, 2003

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