Following BP Oil Spill, A Comprehensive Gulf Restoration Plan Emerges

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Responding to today’s release by the RESTORE Council of an updated Comprehensive Plan to guide Gulf Coast restoration in the wake of the BP Oil Spill, the National Audubon Society released the following statement:   

“BP broke the Gulf, and it’s time to get to work fixing it,” said Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold (@david_yarnold). “Unprecedented disasters require unprecedented action, and the people and birds that depend on a healthy Gulf need a comprehensive and well-coordinated restoration plan.” 

The Gulf Coast provides crucial habitat for many birds, including the Black Skimmer with Louisiana supporting 28 percent of the entire U.S. Black Skimmer population. Prior to the BP Oil Spill, this species had already experienced a 50 to 75 percent decline in the region since the late 1970s. An estimated 15 to 25 percent of the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Black Skimmer populations were killed during the oil spill.

To learn more about the effects of the BP oil spill on the birds and communities of the Gulf Coast and to read about Audubon's work in the affected areas, please visit https://www.audubon.org/features/birds-and-oil.

The National Audubon Society saves birds and their habitats throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon's state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon's vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.

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Contact: media@audubon.org, 212-979-3100