[StBernard] Committee Approves Landrieu-Sponsored Expansion of Jean Lafitte National Park

[Westley Annis]

Committee Approves Landrieu-Sponsored Expansion of Jean Lafitte National
Park
House must now act on the measure.

 

WASHINGTON - The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources today unanimously approved Senator Mary Landrieu's, D-La., Jean
Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve bill. The legislation will
transfer 2,985 acres of federal land to the Barataria Preserve Unit of the
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, and will authorize the park to
purchase up to 5,857 acres of neighboring private lands. 

"I would like to thank my colleagues for approving this bill, which is
essential for coastal restoration and our state's protection from storm
surges." Sen. Landrieu said. "The lands in question contain important
cypress wetlands, which reduce storm surge and wind and wave intensity.
Preserving these wetlands is critical to Louisiana's continued vitality. It
will help protect the West Bank of Jefferson Parish and preserve our natural
heritage. I urge the House of Representatives to pass this bill as well."


This is the third time Sen. Landrieu has sponsored legislation to expand
Jean Lafitte National Park, but House Republican leaders have blocked votes
on the measure. The bill places lands that are already federally controlled
under the management authority of the National Park Service, which already
manages neighboring lands and helps protect their environmental, cultural,
and historic integrity. 

Preserving these wetlands will help protect the Louisiana coastal areas left
vulnerable by the erosion of coastal marshland. When water flows are
interrupted, coastal marshes draw less freshwater and more saltwater,
causing them to die off. When marshes disappear, it is much easier for the
natural actions of the Gulf to erode the coastline.

New measures specifically contained in this legislation would authorize the
Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve to acquire the
Fleming-Berthoud Plantation - previously known as the Mavis Grove
Plantation. This is one of the southernmost early sugar plantations in the
country, and it surrounds a prehistoric Indian mound and historic cemetery
on the edge of the bayou. It is one of the most scenic and most photographed
cemeteries around New Orleans. 

            The Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve was first
established in 1978 to preserve the rich natural resources and cultural
heritage of Louisiana's Mississippi Delta region. Located on the outskirts
of New Orleans, the Barataria Preserve Unit represents both the culture of
those who settled the area and the unique ecosystem (natural levee forests,
bayous, swamps and marshes) that sustained them. Barataria serves as an
interpretive experience of this greatest of coastal wetlands - the only part
of Louisiana's coastal wetlands preserved in the National Park System.