Illegal logging is destroying Louisiana's coastal wetlands at a time when they are much needed for hurricane protection, according to the non-profit environmental advocacy umbrella group, the Waterkeeper Alliance.

Seventy to 80 percent of the cypress trees being cut will never regenerate, the group says.

"Once the loggers have cut all the cypress in Louisiana, they will surely turn to other supplies throughout the southeast," the group says in a press release.

The lower Black Warrior River basin and much of southern Alabama are also home to cypress wetlands and face the same threat, according to Nelson Brook of an affiliated group, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

"Help end the practice of cutting priceless old growth trees for mulch by boycotting the use of cypress mulch," Brook says.

Find more information about this battle at WaterKeeper.Org.