This weekend President Obama and his family are traveling to Florida's Gulf Coast to soak up some sun. The family trip is part of an effort to encourage people to visit those beaches that are free of oil.
Best Western is also encouraging travelers to proceed with their summer vacation plans in the Gulf states.
Beaches along the coast in all states are open for business, and popular inland destinations such as New Orleans and Orlando foresee no impact on visitors. It continues to be safe to travel to all states bordering the Gulf.
If you're concerned about any potential impact from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Best Western encourages you to check with local destinations in order to get the most up-to-date information. To make that easy, here are some links.
In addition, official information from the U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Homeland Security, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior, BP and Transocean is updated several times each day at http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com and http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/.
My kids and I have been talking a lot about the oil spill. We listen to news reports on National Public Radio when we're driving to camp in the morning, and then they always have dozens of questions.
Why can't we just stop using oil? Can we adopt one of the birds? Could we keep one of the turtles in our bath tub? Why are we still driving?
One day when we were listening to a segment about volunteers cleaning oil off birds, they asked, "Can we go help?"
My children are only 5 and 7-years-old so it's highly unlikely that we're going to hop on a plane to the Gulf. I think we'd create more trouble than offer help. But I was curious to find out how interested adults can lend a hand, and I found this great list of organizations seeking volunteers on the Travel Channel Web site.
Deepwater Horizon Response When the call came for volunteers, the response was immediate and intense and calls from interested participants flooded call centers. The Deepwater Horizon Response is the official command center for updated information on the progress of the oil spill and volunteer opportunities. You may contact the Deepwater Horizon Response Volunteer Request Line at (866) 448-5816 or contact individual states volunteer ventures for details.
The National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society is working to protect and help the injured birds and other wildlife. The organization has set up a volunteer response center in Moss Point, MI, to serve as the central hub for all volunteer activity. Potential volunteers are invited to fill out a detailed form online with contact information and details about specialized skills that may be of service. Volunteers may be called upon to help with a variety of jobs. Hands-on tasks may include collecting data and photographing coastal birds and the impact on the shoreline or helping to build nets and cages that trained professionals will use during wildlife rescue efforts. Birding experts may help out on the Bird Hotline to address questions that may come up about bird species and sightings, while office workers may help out with scheduling volunteers, managing daily operations, organizing training sessions and providing logistical support.
Matter of Trust If you are interested in volunteering but don’t live in the Gulf area, there are still plenty of ways to help. While organizations are always looking for financial donations, the Matter of Trust organization is sponsoring a Hair for Oil Spills program. The group is requesting donations of hair, fur, fleece and nylons that are used to make hair booms that will absorb oil from the water. Cut your own hair or work with local salons to collect hair clippings or collect animal fur from a dog grooming spot. Even used nylons, with or without runs, are useful in building these oil-absorbent booms.
Alabama Coalition of Active Stakeholders Team (COAST) While some organizations have an ample number of volunteers, many continue to collect names for future projects. The Coalition of Active Stakeholders Team (COAST) is a joint effort between the Alabama Coastal Foundation, Mobile Baykeepers, BP, the US Coast Guard and the state of Alabama to coordinate volunteers. There’s no immediate need for volunteers, but the organization is collecting contact information that may be used in the future.
Alabama Wildlife Federation The Alabama Wildlife Federation is recruiting volunteers -- ideally those with experience in environmental cleanup -- on its website so there’s a list of specialists available if necessary. The site also provides a hotline number and instructions if you encounter oil-covered wildlife, the most important tip being to not approach or touch any injured wildlife.
Alabama Coastal Foundation The Alabama Coastal Foundation has joined with other organizations to train local citizens to become Volunteer Field Observers. After attending a training program, these local residents help assess the situation on Alabama’s shoreline by gathering data and providing up-to-date information on the affects of the oil spill on the coast. Participants set off in canoes or kayaks to explore areas along Alabama’s shoreline and record images with digital cameras and video. Information on upcoming training sessions will be available on the website as additional dates become available.
Florida Volunteer Florida Volunteer Florida has already organized thousands of volunteers to clean up the state’s beaches and coastline in preparation for the moving oil spill. Now that volunteers have completed this pre-oil-landfall cleanup, the world waits to see what direction the oil will move next. Potential volunteers can provide contact and background information on the Volunteer Florida website and may be called on to assist based on their skills. Volunteers may be recruited to act as Coast Watchers or to provide administrative and website support. Due to the dangerous nature of oil spill sites, trained professionals will be used instead of volunteers to assist in cleaning up contaminated areas.
Louisiana Volunteer Louisiana Sadly, the state of Louisiana is no stranger to natural disasters in recent years. The Louisiana Serve Commission is working to gather volunteer information through the Volunteer Louisiana website. Once prospective volunteers complete registration and training sessions, they may be called upon to assist with pre-impact beach cleanup, as well as to maintain sites, monitor wildlife or provide transportation assistance. Volunteers are also needed to fulfill administrative duties like managing donations and working at command posts and volunteer reception centers.
LA Gulf Response The LA Gulf Response is a coalition of the area’s active wildlife and natural preservation advocates. Five organizations – Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, the National Audubon Society, the Nature Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy – have joined forces to address the threats from the BP oil spill. They are compiling volunteer information from an online registration form and may call on these potential volunteers as more needs arise. All volunteers must be at least 18 years old, and while many positions do not require special skills, the organizations are requesting applications from pre-veterinary students and those people with training in properly handling wildlife.
Mississippi Volunteer Mississippi Volunteers looking for opportunities to help in Mississippi may contact Volunteer Mississippi as well as national organizations, including the National Audubon Society and the Deepwater Horizon Response.
My kids are familiar with one of the main areas where oil is washing up on shore. Last summer, we drove past New Orleans to Venice, La., all way to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Last summer, my family drove to Venice, La. This is one of the first places to be affected by the oil spill and so I thought I'd re-share this post. At the time, the area was recovering from Katrina and now they're being hit with this spill.
If you look at a satellite map and zone in on southern Louisiana, you'll see that the Mississippi River branches out into several water channels. Before dumping into the Gulf of Mexico, the channels run through skinny fingers of land, and on the last day of our road trip we take Highway 23 down one of these peninsulas to Venice. A two-hour drive from New Orleans, the town is the most southern community on the Mississippi accessible by automobile and many refer to it as the end of the world. Our drive through the lower Mississippi River delta immerses us in a landscape that's long and flat, vast and mysterious, even mystical. The land rises only an inch or so above sea level and it is so low-lying that at a distance it disappears into a blend of sky and water. The road is surrounded on either side by levees, which serve as protection when the Mississippi water level rises, and as we drive I feel as if the smallest wave could cover us in water.
Highway 23 also offers a front-row view of Hurricane Katrina damage. The storm hit southeastern Louisiana on August 29, 2005, and it completely destroyed Venice and nearby towns, leaving them 10 to 20 feet under water. We pass demolished homes, fire stations, and grocery stores with sunken roofs, broken windows, and fallen walls. Rusty cars are piled high in open fields; dejected boats clutter the roadside.
While the devastation is apparent, signs of rebirth are even more discernible. The community has worked hard to rebuild and new construction is everywhere. We drive by countless new homes, most of them lifted high up off the ground on stilts. The kids spot a shiny new playground, constructed with funds from Project Rebuild Plaquemines, a nonprofit organization established after the hurricane to assist with restoration of the area. A sign reads: "This park is dedicated to those whose lives were forever changed by Katrina--those who lost so much and those whose generosity helped to restore what was lost. Let it be known that this storm has marked us and changed us, but we have persevered." It's a gorgeous playground but nobody is there. Where do you grab a bite to eat at the end of the world? The Riverside Cafe in Venice is one of the few places. We walk into a dimly lit room with deer trophies decorating the walls. A few men wearing rubber boots that ride up past their knees sit around picnic tables. We're clearly the only people eating in the restaurant who don't work on a fishing boat or an oil platform. We order some fried catfish, which tastes as if it was just pulled out of the river. Our waitress, Leslie Smith, tells us the restaurant was under 15 feet of water after Katrina. She says that's why the mural of a swamp on the back wall is faded. It was painted by a French man who traveled through town, bedded down with the cafe owners, and paid for his keep by painting the back wall of their restaurant. "We're so glad the mural survived," Smith says. "It's special."
Smith was born and raised in Venice. She moved up the road to Belle Chasse after Katrina hit but eventually came back to her hometown and now teaches at the K-12 school that she attended as a child. "Why did you come back?" I ask her. "There's no place like home," she says. "And that's how 90 percent of the people who lived here before Katrina felt. People wanted to come back. They moved into tents because their homes were demolished. They wanted to live here on this land." We drive 10 miles down the road beyond the cafe, past a marina where some fishing boats are docked. This is a popular spot for sport-fishing, and the few outsiders who do visit this part of the world come to catch fish. As we head further south, water laps up against the road and sections are under several inches of water. Egrets and cranes wade through the small lakes. The birds get thicker and thicker and we have to drive slowly. The road suddenly ends. A sign reads: "You have reached the southern most point in Louisiana." We stop to take photos of the sign. A crab scurries across the road. We drove over 2,5000 miles to reach the mouth of the river--and taking a few photos of the sign doesn't satisfy us. I want a more poignant conclusion to our trip. We decide that we'd like to rent a motor boat and travel further down the river and so we follow signs to Bud's Boat Rentals. On the way we meet a friendly pelican who probably would have let me touch him if I tried. It turns out that Bud's doesn't rent boats to families like us. Rather the business runs supply boats between Venice and the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. We learn this from Roy Mareno, Jr., who is sitting behind a big desk. The dark gray clouds outside start dumping rain and so we give up on our plans to find a boat rental. Instead we pull up chairs in Mareno's office. He's a bivocational minister, working as a manager at Bud's and as a pastor at a church in nearby Port Sulphur. When he tells us about his town he's passionate and intense. I can easily picture him speaking to his congregation. Mareno tells us about enduring Katrina and about the tight-knit community who pulled through the storm. We ask him why people would want to come back to this area that's so vulnerable and clearly exposed to Mother Nature's forces. That's when he starts to tell us about the fish he pulls out of the water and the alligators that come out in the early evening and about the cranes that are pink because they eat so much shrimp. He was born and raised in Venice and he cherishes the area's natural beauty. He's not leaving. We have been following the river for over two weeks; the river has worked its way into our souls and at the end of our journey it somehow seems fitting to meet someone who has a deep, spiritual connection to the river. Listen to a sound bite from Mareno here:
This weekend President Obama and his family are traveling to Florida's Gulf Coast to soak up some sun. The family trip is part of an effort to encourage people to visit those beaches that are free of oil.
