The view from the deck of the Exxon Valdez was grim. The slick was huge; birds and other wildlife were covered in oil, dying; and hardly any containment effort had begun. The spill would kill an enormous number of animals -- seabirds, bald eagles, sea otters, seals and whales.

With less than seven percent of this initial commitment to the Gulf Coast met, it's fair to say BP must do a better job of working fairly with the state and federal trustee to move projects forward.

There are consequences to not listening to the land; we must choose to protect the land and honor sacred territory.

Restoring these damaged resources will require a comprehensive, Gulf-wide restoration plan that covers coastal environments, blue-water resources and Gulf communities.

It took just 89 days for that well to spew over 4 million barrels of oil, but it will take much longer for us to fully understand the impact of this disaster -- and longer still to rebuild a healthy and prosperous Gulf of Mexico.

As the East Coast residents prepare for the worst and hope for the best, it is hard to escape the memory of Hurricane Katrina, which wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast at this moment six years ago.

We cannot continue to let the Gulf suffer. Pillars of the regional economy -- tourism, energy, recreational fishing and the seafood industry -- cannot prosper without the natural resources that support them.

Much to the chagrin of the conservation community, President Obama has not turned out to be a strong environmentalist or defender of vanishing species.

What remains of the world's natural areas increasingly requires embracing the emerging paradigm of ecological restoration.