Picture an area the size of a football field. Now, picture an area of this size disappearing every 38 minutes.

The coastal Louisiana wetlands are disappearing at this rate, resulting in a 24 square-mile loss of marshland every year, according to Robert Thomas, Loyola chairman in environmental communications. They provide natural protection for hurricane damage, line America’s most important ports, serve as a tourist destination and are home to 79 endangered plants and animals, according to www.americaswetlandresources.com.

Thomas created the America’s WETLAND Online Resource Center, launched Feb. 2, to give easy access to accurate information on Louisiana’s wetlands in one location. The project has been underway for a year and was originally scheduled to launch in September, but was pushed back due to Hurricane Katrina.

The resource center is a project of Loyola’s Center for Environmental Communications and America’s WETLAND: a Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana.

Thomas has branded the Louisiana coastal wetlands “America’s WETLAND” to stress the importance of the area. Brands get people’s attention and get more things done, said Thomas.

The Web site provides “tremendous amounts of information,” according to Thomas. It includes frequently asked questions with rapid and succinct answers, official numbers and notes from Thomas’s Delta Ecology course.

Thomas said he undertook the project to give people and the media, especially talk radio, an accurate information source. “If a listener calls in and wants to talk about the coastline, Garland Robinette can pull up official numbers and information to discuss or correct [inaccuracies],” Thomas said.

While providing information, America’s WETLAND Online Resource Center also offers opportunities to scouting groups, like the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, to earn America’s WETLAND patches. The Center also offers tour guide certification for nature programs.

The project was made possible by a grant from the America’s WETLAND Foundation. The foundation received the grant money from CH2Mhill, a national engineering firm.

To find out more information from the America’s WETLAND Online Resource Center, go to www.americaswetlandresources.com. For more information on the America’s WETLAND: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana, go to www.americaswetland.com.