GARYVILLE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has long relied on a vast levee system to rein in the Mississippi River and protect surrounding communities from flooding. But cutting off the natural flow of the river with man made barriers has been slowly killing one of the nation’s largest forested wetlands.

The 176 square mile (456 square kilometers) Maurepas Swamp just to the west of New Orleans holds Louisiana’s second largest contiguous forest, a beloved state wildlife refuge filled with water tupelo and bald cypress trees, their branches adorned by wisps of Spanish moss. A beloved recreation site, the swamp also houses bald eagles, ospreys, black bears and alligators and serves as a waystation for hundreds of different migratory birds.

Deprived of nutrients from the stanched Mississippi River, the swamp’s iconic trees are dying in stagnant water. Yet they’re now set to receive a life-saving boost.

State and federal authorities on Tuesday celebrated breaking ground on an ambitious conservation project intended to replenish the ailing trees by diverting water from the Mississippi back into the swamp.

“This is about reconnecting a natural system, actually fixing it to what it used to be,” said Brad Miller, who has shepherded the project for the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority since 2006.

Miller likened the $330 million river diversion to watering a garden: “The swamp needs river water to be a good swamp.”

The River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp will allow for a maximum of 2000 cubic feet per second (57 cubic meters per second) to flow out of a gated opening to be built in the levee system and routed along a 5.5 miles (9 kilometers) diversion channel. The project expects to revitalize around 45,000 acres (182 square kilometers) of swamp in an area where less than a third of the forest is considered healthy according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Besides injecting much-needed nutrients and oxygen into the swamp, river water will leave thin layers of sediment deposits that mitigate the effect of subsidence — a natural phenomenon on Louisiana’s fragile coast exacerbated by fossil fuel extraction — and climate change-induced sea level rise, said Nick Stevens, a researcher at Southeastern Louisiana University’s wetlands ecology and restoration lab. Healthier forests bolster the swamp with decomposing matter from branches and leaves, he added.

“All of that is completely hindered by not having the Mississippi River attached to it anymore,” Stevens said. “You’ve got all this land sinking as a result of just not getting nutrients.”

The swamp’s diminishing health has had ripple effects on biodiversity, says Erik Johnson, director of conservation science at Audubon Delta, an organization focused on bird ecology in the Mississippi River delta. Some migratory birds like the yellow throated warbler, prothonotary warbler and the northern parula have had their populations plummet by nearly 50% in the past two decades, Johnson said.

These birds rely on caterpillars who are dependent on water tupelo and bald cypress foliage. When there’s less healthy leaves for the caterpillars to gorge on, there’s less food for the birds.

“That’s driving a really rapid decline in these bird populations that depend on this one forest,” Johnson said. “The whole system has shifted.”

Scientists say they expect to start seeing an increase in canopy cover and new tree growth within a few years of the project’s anticipated completion in 2028.

Unlike the state’s controversial $3 billion river diversion project intended to combat coastal land loss, the Maurepas project has received widespread support from elected officials and local communities.

The Maurepas project is primarily funded by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, a multi-state and federal program managing settlement funds from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that devastated the Gulf Coast.

The Maurepas project benefits from an innovative partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is building an adjacent 18.5 miles (30 kilometers) levee system to protect several southeast Louisiana parishes. The Corps will count 9,000 acres (36 square kilometers) of Maurepas Swamp restoration towards offsetting environmental damage caused by the new levee construction, meaning it can direct additional federal funds towards the diversion program.

“For every dollar the state can save here, they have more to invest” in other coastal restoration projects, said John Ettinger, director of policy and environmental compliance with Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council.

And conservationists say the Maurepas reintroduction project highlights the importance of coastal protection and wetlands restoration going hand in hand in a hurricane-prone region.

“You’re going to have a healthier ecosystem on the outside of that levee, which means you’re going to have a better buffer for storm surge and it’s going to allow the levees to be more effective,” said Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Program senior director. “This is how we need to be thinking at large about what’s possible and how we can how we can do more effective conservation by working with nature.”

Mississippi State cornerback Brice Pollock plans to enter the transfer portal, he tells On3. The sophomore will have two years of eligibility remaining.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback has 72 career tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble. He has 11 career pass breakups, too.

The transfer portal officially opens on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. Removing those who withdrew or went pro, the final total sat at 2,707 transfers. That means roughly 25% of all FBS scholarship players hit free agency in one year.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Former Mississippi State running back Jeffery Pittman is planning to enter the NCAA transfer portal, he tells On3. Pittman did not play for the Bulldogs this past season. However, in 2023 he had 54 carries for 268 yards and a touchdown.

Jeffery Pittman also had 13 catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns in 2023 as the Bulldogs finished with a 5-7 record. He transferred in to Mississippi State after starting his college career at Hinds Community College.

Jeffery Pittman was ranked as a three-star recruit and the No. 1 junior college running back in the country in the class of 2023, per the On3 Industry rankings. The Mississippi native had 135 carries for 651 yards and 10 touchdowns during his final season of junior college before signing with Mississippi State.

He appeared in 11 games and made two starts for the Bulldogs in 2023, including a career-high 98 yards on 10 carries in a game against Southern Miss.

It seemed as though Jeffery Pittman was ready to contribute for Mississippi State again in 2024. However, he was not on the two-deep depth chart back in August ahead of the season.

Head coach Jeff Lebby made it known that the running back, who was entering his second season with the program after being their fourth-leading rusher last year, was no longer part of their roster.

“Pitt is actually a guy that is no longer with us right now,” said Lebby. “Won’t get into the details of that internal matter.”

Jeffery Pittman is one of multiple Mississippi State players to announce plans to enter the transfer portal in recent days. Another one is JJ Harrell, who made his intentions known on Saturday.

Harrell did not log any stats during his true freshman season in Starkville. He will have four years of eligibility remaining.

The 6 foot 1, 195-pound wideout is a former four-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 252 player in the country during the 2024 recruiting cycle, and was the No. 7 player out of the state of Mississippi.