UPDATE: HB172 by Rep. Edmonston passed out of the House and is headed to the Senate Natural Resources Committee for hearing. HB172 proposes to extend an exemption from needing a permit for clearing and snagging, and dredging operations for drainage purposes in Bayou Manchac. This activity is already allowed for Bayou Manchac, which is a designated Historic River. HB172 also seeks to extend the exception for needing permits for the Comite River for another 5 years. There is already an exemption for Comite River to allow for projects that address flood control measures due to a legislative act passed in 2017. What is the continued need for the exemption?
Removing a river or allowing for a river to be removed from state oversight for permitting river management activities threatens the integrity of the Scenic Rivers System. Please help educate legislators about the importance of Louisiana’s Scenic Rivers System by sending them a message. TAKE ACTION HERE.
On May 8, the Senate Natural Resources Committee heard arguments for Senator Robert Owen’s bill SB124, to suspend regulations prohibiting the channelization, clearing and snagging, channel realignment, reservoir construction, or dredging operations for drainage purposes in the West Pearl River, from Lock 1 to the Rigolets, in St. Tammany Parish. The West Pearl River is designated as a Louisiana Scenic River and is protected from the listed activities without an approved permit from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
SB124, if passed, would remove the West Pearl River from the Scenic River program for a period of 8 years. The Louisiana Wildlife Federation opposes removing scenic rivers from the Scenic Rivers System. The concerns about making exceptions for a scenic river is that it allows for operations on the river with no state oversight into how the activities would impact the river’s function and values. Without specific information to decide on a proposed project, particularly in a sandy-bottomed system as represented by the West Pearl, these activities have the potential of causing upstream bank erosion, increased sedimentation and siltation, and water flow faster downstream, potentially resulting in increased backwater flooding. Dredging projects, if not properly designed, can also cause damage to roads and bridges along the river system. Interfering with the river’s ability to maintain itself has consequences for communities and wildlife that could be difficult, expensive, and maybe impossible to reverse.
During the Senate Committee hearing, LWF, in addition to numerous St. Tammany residents, presented testimony opposing SB124. At the conclusion of testimony, an offer was submitted to Senator Owen to convert the legislation to a one-year study on the issue, Senator Owen, however, declined to move forward with a study on the issue. A committee decision was made to defer the legislation in its current form and the Louisiana Wildlife Federation will continue to monitor SB124 throughout the legislative process.
LWF has been a vocal advocate of Louisiana’s Natural and Scenic Rivers System for more than 50 years. LWF Reaffirmed its commitment to the scenic rivers program in 2018 with a resolution approved by LWF’s Board of Directors – LWF Reaffirms Support for the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers System – Louisiana Wildlife Federation.
Learn more about Louisiana’s Scenic River System and LWF’s commitment to the program in our earlier blogs Whither the Comite River? – Louisiana Wildlife Federation, Celebrating 50 Years of Louisiana’s Scenic Rivers Act – Louisiana Wildlife Federation, and Scenic Rivers Need Your Help – Protect from automatic dredging, de-snagging, clearing – Louisiana Wildlife Federation.
Check out this video produced by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries celebrating the beauty of the Comite River and 50 years of the Louisiana Scenic River Program – Scenic Rivers – The Comite River