Cold, sweaty and tired from a 1,200-mile trek from the Atlantic Ocean into the Gulf of Mexico, Margo Pellegrino, 42, finally arrived.

Pellegrino’s arrival at Lake Pontchartrain Beach was the culmination of a journey from Miami to New Orleans, spanning 38 days with stops in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi to promote coastal restoration.

She has paddled in her Outrigger Connection canoe, outfitted with GPS, on this trip and two others by herself. Two of the three trips have been a partnership between Pellegrino and the Gulf Restoration Network, which works with the Gulf states promoting wetland preservation.

In 2006 Pellegrino partnered with the Natural Resources Defense Council to paddle from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. , also to promote coastal restoration, and in 2007 she paddled the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, from Miami to Maine, in three months. She took the last step in her journey to do the same for the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday.

Though these trips were quite taxing on her body and time-consuming, Pellegrino thinks of the ocean as “my favorite playground.” On every voyage, it’s just Pellegrino and nature. “I love to feel the waves and smell the salt. There’s just something really calming about it. How can you have a bad day on the water?”

Pellegrino, who when not paddling is a stay-at-home mother, calls the coast vital to the U.S. economy: “If it’s allowed to degrade, we’re just not going to have it anymore,” she said.” Once this goes under, it’s done.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say loss of wetlands along the Gulf Coast has outpaced wetland loss in other parts of the United States.

From 1998 to 2004, NOAA says, the Gulf Coast lost more than 370,000 acres of wetlands, a rate 25 times greater than wetland loss along the Atlantic Coast, which lost just 15,000 acres during the same period. Both regions have about 15 million acres of coastal wetlands.

Coastal wetlands provide spawning grounds, nurseries, shelter and food for finfish, shellfish, birds and other wildlife, NOAA says. Also, healthier wetlands mean more and healthier shrimp, blue crabs, oysters and other species.

Aaron Viles, campaign director for the Gulf Restoration Network, said: “The fisheries aren’t doing that well. We’re losing wetlands faster than any other part of the country, and it’s because of poor management of those resources.”

New development in the Gulf region is “the overwhelming factor” in the loss, according to NOAA. The wetlands of Mississippi and Alabama are especially at risk because of new development near the coastlines of both states, but Louisiana is losing 20,000 acres of wetlands per year.

Pellegrino hopes to help slow the loss of wetlands before it’s too late. Instead of “going green,” she prefers the motto “go blue,” her mantra for raising coastal restoration awareness.

Viles says: “What’s amazing about Margo is her commitment to coastal restoration. Her passion is terribly inspiring, and the amount of energy she puts into it should inspire us to do something.”

“It’s not that we have to pick up a paddle to help out. We could pick up a pen and write to our governor or mayor to make sure we are doing more to protect our natural resources.”

Viles refers to the Gulf as an “amazing treasure.” He says coastal residents rely on the wetlands for ports, seafood and safe drinking water. He also says oil and gas development are causing the wetlands to wash away.

On her voyage from Miami to the Gulf, Pellegrino says she paddled between 30 and 50 miles each day, often stopping just before sunset.

But the ocean wasn’t always kind to her.

The rudder cables on her canoe broke in Alabama – local fisherman repaired them. A hole in her canoe needed patching in Bay St. Louis – a beachfront repair shop closed the gash, free of charge.

Through it all, she kept on.

“It was another amazing trip,” Pellegrino says. “I did Miami to Maine, and that was phenomenal, but this has been just as awesome. It’s amazing to meet so many people who care about having clean oceans and a healthy Gulf.”

Pellegrino says that after the celebration is over, her husband, Carl, would help her disassemble her canoe and load it onto the car. The family, which includes her son, 7, and daughter, 4, planned to drive back to Medford, N.J., on Sunday.

Pellegrino says she is contemplating another voyage but hasn’t decided where yet.

“It’s hard,” Pellegrino says. “I want to do the Pacific Coast, but my son doesn’t want me to. We’ll see.”