MISSION: WATER 58 OCEAN & COASTAL WATERS BREAKING GROUND in the Atchafalaya A first-of-its-kind study is helping scientists restore hydrology in one of the country’s most important river basins. The Atchafalaya River Basin teems with life. Across one million acres, bald eagles and swallow- tailed kites soar overhead, rare Louisiana black bears prowl the forests, and American alligators patrol the river banks. Joe Baustian, a wetland ecologist for The Nature Conservancy, has met many of the Atchafalaya’s inhabitants first-hand. The Nature Conservancy Restoration and Monitoring Team, South River Basin Photo: The Nature Conservancy MISSION: WATER STAFF