Louisiana
Hurricanes Have Left their Mark on Louisiana’s Wetlands
Exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southern Louisiana, another major hurricane blew into the state. On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida came ashore at Port Fourchon with sustained winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour. The tide surged in some places up to 14 feet above sea level and slammed into marshes and swamps west of the Mississippi River, eroding soil and vegetation.
“Wetlands in southern Louisiana have taken a real beating from hurricanes in recent years,” said Chris Potter, an ecologist at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Although multiple natural and human-caused processes contribute to land loss along the coast, Potter has observed signatures of lasting storm damage after some of the strongest storms—especially Hurricanes Ida (2021) and Katrina (2005).
In a recent study, Potter documented wetland loss in Louisiana between 2000 and 2022 using data from the Landsat satellites. In 2021, Hurricane Ida was especially destructive to the marshlands and swamplands of Barataria Basin, just inland from Barataria Bay. The images above show Barataria Basin in September 2015 (left) compared to September 2021 (right), just after Hurricane Ida hit. Green vegetation in the wetlands around Little Lake turned to open water.
Potter found that following Ida, more than 680 square kilometers of wetlands in Barataria Basin and Terrebonne Basin (west of Barataria Bay) transformed into open water. The map below shows where wetlands in southern Louisiana disappeared after Ida, as calculated by Potter comparing Landsat data from June 2021 to September 2021. The analysis looked at the difference between pixels identified as water before and after Ida. Land loss occurred along most of the southern-facing shorelines of the Barataria Basin.
Oil and gas exploration, oil spills, rising sea levels, and subsidence also contribute to land loss in the region. Potter found that, in addition to tropical storms, oil pollution left behind from the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 contributed to wetland degradation in Barataria Bay. The presence of oil likely damaged the marsh’s vegetation above and below the ground, reducing the stability of the surrounding soil and making the marsh more vulnerable to erosion. Heavily oiled wetlands experienced more loss than those that were less polluted, according to Potter. He noted that oil residues were still present in Barataria Basin in 2023.
Southern Louisiana’s coast is a latticework of shrinking marshes, swamps, and barrier islands. No other coastline in the contiguous United States has changed as much in recent decades. By one estimate, Louisiana lost approximately 4,800 square kilometers of land from 1932 to 2016—an area that amounts to approximately 25 percent of the state’s 1932 extent.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, much of the land lost in coastal Louisiana was due to oil and gas exploration and subsidence, said Potter, rather than tropical storms. He attributed the extent of recent topical storms’ damage on wetlands to their increased strength. According to the National Climate Assessment, the intensity of hurricanes in the North Atlantic has increased since the 1980s. “Category 4 or 5 storms were quite rare in the Gulf Coast until recently,” said Potter. “Now every couple of years we get them.” There is also growing consensus among scientists that in a warmer world, with higher sea surface temperatures, tropical storms in the Atlantic will get stronger still.
Louisiana is working to restore and rebuild marshes and swamps that dampen storm surge from hurricanes. One method is constructing sediment diversions that aim to replenish sediment and nutrients to coastal wetlands. Potter said that by using data from Landsat satellites, scientists can monitor the benefits of such projects.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Emily Cassidy.
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New legislation in Baton Rouge would reclassify some illegal gaming-related offenses as racketeering law violations, elevating potential consequences.
Louisiana has already stepped up its enforcement of its gaming laws related to potential illegal gaming but a new bill in the state legislature would give prosecutors’ actions more teeth. The proposal would elevate certain crimes involving unlicensed gaming in the state to a racketeering charge with more severe penalties linked to convictions.
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Louisiana bill changes classification of gaming-related charges
Louisiana Rep. Bryan Fontenot has pre-filed HB 53, which could rewrite the state code as it pertains to unlicensed gaming sites. The legislation has been provisionally assigned to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, as the 2026 session does not begin until March 9.
Under the proposal, the state’s definition of racketeering would expand to include “gambling, gambling by computer, gambling on cockfights, gambling by electronic sweepstakes, unlawful wagering, and bribery of sports participants.” Under current statutes, racketeering convictions carry penalties of fines of “not more than one million dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor for not more than 50 years, or both.”
Additionally, racketeering convictions that result in sentences of fines of at least $10,000 revoke recipients’ eligibility for parole. The enactment of this bill as currently composed could have a significant impact on the operation of sweepstakes-based online casino sites for real money in Louisiana.
At the same time, many of the companies in that space have already ceased potentially infringing actions within Louisiana.
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Louisiana has already been off-limits for sweepstakes casinos
In 2025, Louisiana gaming regulators and law enforcement took multiple actions to restrict residents’ access to unlicensed platforms for playing casino games online. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill shared a public notice about the illegality of sweepstakes-based online gaming sites, in addition to issuing cease-and-desist orders to the companies affiliated with those sites. As a result, many of the operators of those sites geofenced Louisiana out of their service areas.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board supplemented that action with its additional cease-and-desist letters. Fontenot’s bill could add additional weight to these demands if it becomes law.
There is currently no legal framework for playing online casino games or redeeming casino bonus codes in Louisiana. While online sports wagering is legal in most of the state, officials in Baton Rouge have not yet tackled the issue of iGaming.
Even if voters in Louisiana someday do clear the way for the utilization of Fanatics Casino promo codes, that would involve licensed gaming and not affect the implementation of Fontenot’s bill. However, such deliberations do not seem imminent.
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If HB 53 becomes law, Louisiana could levy some of the toughest penalties for illegal gaming activity in the United States. Many potential targets of prosecution have already pulled out of the state.
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In partnership with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and South Louisiana Community College, this program aims to provide African American males with financial assistance to obtain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training, strengthening the resilience and contributions of this key demographic and improving equitable access to workforce opportunities. This initiative aims to reduce high unemployment rates within this community but also focuses on ensuring participants come from rural and economically disadvantaged areas.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Gov. Jeff Landry is asking Louisiana’s congressional leaders to amend the state’s federal judicial districts, citing caseload growth and public safety concerns.
Landry sent letters to Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. John Kennedy, Congressman Cleo Fields, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow requesting the change.
The request
Louisiana is currently divided into three federal judicial districts: Eastern, Middle, and Western. Landry is asking that West Feliciana Parish be moved from the Middle District to the Western District.
In the letters, Landry cited significant growth in the Middle District and an increased caseload for its judges. He said a major driver of the Middle District docket is Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Public safety argument
Landry said moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District would improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the state.
He said East Baton Rouge Parish continues to battle violent crime. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, recent numbers show violent crime in the parish has decreased.
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