VISIT THE BTNEP web site (www.btnep.org) for a great tour of south Louisiana and the many great environmental and educational projects we help with in our daily activities. The Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary System (BTES) is a biologically rich and productive ecosystem encompassing 4.1 million acres of upland forests, swamps, marches, bayous, bays and barrier islands, bound on the west by the Atchafalaya River and on the east by the Mississippi River in south Louisiana. Sixteen parishes fall within its boundaries. Those parishes include Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, Terrebonne, West Baton Rouge and only small portions of Iberia, St. Martin, and Orleans.Restoring and protecting the BTES is a long-term and complex endeavor, and your assistance is vital. BTNEP receives some federal funds through Section 320 of the EPS's Clean Water Act, but so much more is needed in order to successfully implement the comprehensive plan for restoring and protecting our national estuary.