Levees alone are not enough to defend our coastal communities, and we must restore the coast. An over reliance upon 'brick and mortar' projects (i.e. levees and floodwalls) by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), along with unprecedented rates of oil and gas drilling and channeling in Southern Louisiana, has allowed saltwater to destroy our freshwater marshes and wetlands at an alarming rate making us all more susceptible to future damages from rising sea levels, coastal erosion and flooding. The Coastal Lines of Defense Strategy is a more comprehensive and systemic way of viewing the necessary steps to achieve a sustainable coast and resilient communities. Restoring the coast means restoring our 'natural protections.' Without offshore shelves, barrier islands, marshes, natural land-bridges, and healthy swamps the pressure that our engineered storm surge protections continue to face will be too great and may cause them to fail again in the future.