The fate of Southern Louisiana depends on our ability to restore the coast. Without a healthy coast we will lose our land and our culture to rising tides, eroding land and dying habitats. The wetlands have the power to preserve our economy (energy, seafood) while also speaking to our heart and senses with its beauty: inspiring our art, our food and our music. It is absolutely critical that all residents of Southern Louisiana become engaged in advocating for a sustainable restoration of our coast, while simultaneously making informed choices that will lead to more resilience: planning their evacuation route in advance, elevating their home (if possible), attending planning meetings related to coastal planning and submitting public comments and most important, talking to their family and neighbors about this issue. The situation in Southern Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast calls for all hands on deck, and that is why it is so critical that each one of us become engaged in this fight, because like it or not, it imminently affects you and may prevent the un-natural disaster of 2005 from repeating itself.