The dredging of canals across the southern marshlands has long been blamed for coastal erosion. What was then the Orleans Levee Board, now the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority operating as the East and West divisions, filed a lawsuit in July 2013 against 97 oil and gas companies for damages, claiming the 50 miles of marsh swamps, with stands of cypress that buffered Gulf storms, were"shredded by oil industry canals". It was considered to be an "entire ecosystem tanking", the "largest ecological catastrophe in North America since the dust bowl.", and "a wetland dying". “When you talk about dredging those canals, yes, it now appears to have been a pretty stupid thing to do” . . . . “But no one ever dreamed it would be an issue or that the coast would waste away.” —John Laborde, Founder, Tidewater Marine, 2010. This was not a new hypothesis as Percy Viosca, a Tulane graduate ultimately fired by then-Governor Long and brought back under another administration, stated “Man-made modifications in Louisiana wetlands, which are changing the conditions of existence from its very foundations, are the result of flood protection, deforestation, deepening channels[,] and the cutting of navigation and drainage canals.”, and concluded with “Time is ripe for an enormous development of the Louisiana wetlands along new and [more] intelligent lines.”, and this was in 1925. The many benefits of the wetlands found in this region were not recognized by a majority of policy makers early in the 20th century. Wetlands provide many important ecological services including, fisheries production, resting areas for migratory species, carbon storage, water filtration and enhanced disagreement over the relative importance of these factors, not to mention flood control. Southeastern Louisiana's disappearing wetlands have a broad impact ranging from cultural to economic. Commercial fishing in Louisiana accounts for more than 300 million dollars of the state's economy. More than 70% of that amount stems from species such as shrimp, oysters and blue crabs that count on the coastal wetlands as a nursery for their young. Annually Louisiana sells more than 330,000 hunting licenses and 900,000 fishing licenses to men and women who depend on the wetlands as a habitat for their game. Additional recreational activities such as boating, swimming, camping, hiking, birding, photography and painting are abundant in wetland areas. Wetlands host a variety of trees such as the bald cypress, tupelo gum and cottonwood.