Alliance members

The Rainey Conservation Alliance is a unique, effective, and powerful coalition of landowners and land managers working together in southern Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Each member of the alliance has a long history in the region and a deep commitment to Louisiana’s people, wetlands, waters, and wildlife. Alliance members currently include the following:

• E. A. McIlhenny Enterprises
• National Audubon Society
• Sagrera Lands
• Vermilion Corporation

The alliance represents more than 185,000 contiguous acres of marsh, forested ridges, and beach habitats in Vermilion Parish, including the National Audubon Society’s Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary, which Audubon has managed as a wildlife sanctuary since it was donated to the society in 1924.

What makes the alliance unique?

The Rainey Conservation Alliance is defined by landowners and managers who treat their properties not as separate, independent units but as one continuous landscape. Alliance members make decisions and share resources to promote sound natural resource management and habitat restoration across all lands in the project area.

What makes the alliance effective?

In a marsh ecosystem, the health of the landscape depends primarily on the flow of water and sediments through the marsh. A management approach that places property boundaries second and marsh integrity first allows property managers to address challenges at a regional scale instead of trying to fend for themselves.

Alliance partners are also pioneering new smart and cost-effective technologies and practices for managing and restoring coastal marsh, building on the experience and expertise that each partner brings. And by working together, alliance partners have been able to leverage investments of their own resources to secure significant funding from a variety of public and private sources and achieve more than $3.5 million dollars of on-the-ground restoration work.

What makes the alliance powerful?

By aligning resources and voices, the Rainey Conservation Alliance brings a powerful, united presence to the table when advocating for conservation. This alignment attracts funding, influences policy, and accelerates progress. The whole is truly greater than the sum of its significant parts.

Today, as direct marsh restoration and stabilization work continues, alliance partners are broadening their vision. They are pursuing large restoration projects worth tens of millions of dollars, and meeting regularly with Louisiana and federal agencies to advance projects and meet challenges that affect the entire region.

Rainey Conservation Alliance partners are committed to wise management and use of Louisiana’s great natural resources, restoration of habitat that has been lost or damaged, and a healthy, productive future for Louisiana’s people, birds and other wildlife.

Check out the latest at the Rainey Sanctuary on Karen and Timmy's marsh building blog!

RCA Products

• RCA Comprehensive Management Plan
• A Louisiana Marsh Manager's Permitting Handbook