Coastal wetlands are particularly important in the New Orleans area, and even though the city was founded in forested wetlands, the majority of those forests have since declined or been lost because of land and water management.  This has sometimes exacerbated the impacts of extreme events such as flooding and hurricanes.  The goal will be to gain an appreciation of the physical and management drivers of ecological change in forested wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta surrounding the city and the human impacts. Tour stops will include forests across a range of conditions, including those affected by salt-water intrusion, diversion of Mississippi River water, and hydrologic impoundment. Tour guides will include local researchers in forest ecology, hydrology, and soils, as well as practitioners working with scientist: community partnerships and addressing environmental justice issues.  Tour stops will include discussion of management effects such as construction of levees on the Mississippi River and effects of Hurricane Katrina.  We'll also dialogue about the challenges of balancing management to ensure ecosystem services and human well-being.  This field trip tour and dialogue is being co-organized by members of the Applied Ecology and Environmental Justice sections.