Latest news: September 9, 2011
Wax Lake Delta: Accidental Eden in the Atchafalaya
by Hal Herring, The Conservationist blog (Field & Stream). September 7, 2011.
“Wax Lake, Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana — A six foot gator slipped off the mudbank and lay still in the water, watching us. I stood on the bow of the big flatbottom while Ben Weber poled the boat from his homemade platform – this is a former working boat, converted by Ben to a shallow water redfish predator. We’re after different game on this trip, in the freshwater of the Atchafalaya River, hunting big gar with brand new PSE Kingfisher bows that we are still figuring out how to use…”
Tropical Storm Lee surge reveals tar mats on Fourchon Beach
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). September 9, 2011.
“Surge from Tropical Storm Lee uncovered numerous tar mats, dozens of tar balls and abandoned strings of oil snare pom-poms along a stretch of Fourchon Beach owned by the Wisner Donation Trust, according to the property’s manager. “The beach got hit hard by surge, as it always does,” said Cathy Norman, secretary-treasurer and land manager for the trust. “With all the sand removed, many things were uncovered, including these huge tar mat areas…”
President Obama’s jobs speech: GOP Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana holds sign ‘drilling equals jobs’
By Aliyah Shahid, Daily News (New York, Ny.). September 9, 2011.
“Louisiana Republican Rep. Jeff Landry raised eyebrows at President Obama’s jobs speech Thursday night when he broke from decorum and held up a sign suggesting how he’d put Americans back to work: ‘Drilling equals jobs.’…”
Lawmaker pushed for river improvement
By Bill Ellzey, The Houma Courier. September 8, 2011.
“‘The Mississippi River is a national river, the grandest highway of commerce in the world,’ said Rep. Randall Lee Gibson to fellow members of the U.S. House of Representatives on June 21, 1879. ‘And yet while the Federal Government has with unstinted liberality made appropriations for our ocean front and lakes and upland rivers, nothing has been done for our great inland sea…'”
Longleaf Pine Restoration Field Day Set for Oct. 5
By Melissa Canone, KATC News (Lafayette, La.). September 8, 2011.
“The Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries is holding a field day and inviting private landowners, forestry professionals and wildlife biologists and managers to a Longleaf Restoration Field Day on Wednesday, Oct. 5 in Long Leaf, La…”
Senate Committee Passes Federal Flood Insurance Reform Legislation
Insurance Journal. September 8, 2011.
“As many property owners continue to recover from hurricane and tropical storms Irene and Lee and new storms form offshore, the U.S. Senate is taking steps to renew the federal flood insurance program…”
Tropical Storm Lee leaves a harsh toll: An editorial
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). September 7, 2011.
“Tropical Storm Lee was a stark reminder that even a relatively mild storm system can pack a punch for some communities across metro New Orleans. Residents in parts of Plaquemines, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes are once again in recovery mode after Lee’s heavy rains and storm surge caused flooding. In some cases, the families affected over the weekend had to rebuild or repair their properties after Hurricane Katrina…”