Element: Environment and Conservation

Birds in cypress trees at the Lakes

VIEW ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION ELEMENT

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BREC Bluebonnet Swamp and Nature CenterEnvironment and Conservation

The vision for FUTUREBR is for the Parish to protect its environmental assets, and to foster a green, active ecologically diverse and economically sound community.

Environment and Conservation Goals

  1. Preserve and enhance environmental assets.
  2. Protect watersheds, wetlands, and floodplains
  3. Improve and protect the quality and quantity of surface water and groundwater.kayaking
  4. Preserve and restore the tree canopy.
  5. Improve air quality to meet or exceed national ambient air quality standards.
  6. Protect, preserve, and enhance land resources and natural features.

Water Management

Baton Rouge is strongly influenced by water. Flat topography, heavy rainfall, wetlands, and the channelization of the Mississippi River combine to create a unique ecosystem that has been shaped over the last 300 years by both natural and human impacts. As Baton Rouge moves forward, priority should be given to using drainage areas as public space for trails and wildlife corridors.

Concerns about flooding in Baton Rouge have prompted the city-parish to move forward with creating a stormwater master plan. The stormwater master plan will look ahead 20 years, and it will also look farther than just Baton Rouge’s boundaries. It will include hurricane storm surge-related flooding as well as the types of flooding encountered in the August 2016 event.

Air Quality

Air quality is an important health concern for residents of East Baton Rouge. Emissions from industrial plants in northern East Baton Rouge Parish are the primary source of high levels of ozone in the Parish.

The parish can reduce emissions to meet and surpass clean air standards through a combination of policies and targeted emission reductions such as:

  • Reducing stationary source pollution such as buildings and industry.
  • Reducing mobile source pollution such as vehicle emissions.
  • Instituting new policies such as improved transportation, transit systems and changes in land use development, prohibition of burning and dust abatement during construction.