Washington, DC (March 5, 2021) —The single largest ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history crossed a major milestone today when the Army Corps of Engineers released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. The proposed project will reconnect the Mississippi River to its wetlands to build and maintain tens of thousands of acres of land in the Barataria Basin, which is experiencing one of the highest rates of land loss on the planet.

"Large scale problems, like climate change and rising seas, require bold collaborative solutions. This is a sign that we can do big things so that communities and nature can thrive together,” said Moira Mcdonald, PhD, director of the Walton Family Foundation's Environment Program. "There is still a lot of work to do to make sure that impacts of this project are managed equitably. But, we also know we are racing against the clock to grow new land that can protect communities and nature from devastating storms.”

The Walton Family Foundation has been a longtime funder of a broad coalition of environmental, community and business interests working together to restore Louisiana’s coast.

About Walton Family Foundation

The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2019, the foundation awarded more than $525 million in grants in support of these initiatives. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org