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Preface to Texas A&M Edition THE FIRST EDITION of this book took the story to 1995. Since that time, the tensions first outlined in Designing the Bayous have continued to influence Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, one of the most hydraulically dynamic and critical wetlands in the country, if not the world.The basin is the ancestral home of the state’s Cajun population, provides a rich source for commercial fisheries and habitat for many exotic species, is endowed with natural gas and oil fields,serves as a navigation route, and is a primary component of the plan to relieve flooding in New Orleans, Baton Rouge,and communities along the lower Mississippi River.Finding the proper balance among the basin’s many competing uses tested— and continues to test—institutional and professional wisdom. Solutions may not only lead to greater stability and less debate on the basin’s development, but also may be applied to other multiple-use wetlands around the country. Clearly problems remain. Conflicts continue between private rights and public values; government agendas still require reconciliation and modification to meet changing realities;natural resource industries,such as petroleum, timber, and fishing, press for revisions to protect their interests; recreation users call for greater access; and developers and environmentalists debate the appropriate level of human intrusion into the basin. Opinions abound about ways to improve water quality and protect flora and fauna.Meanwhile,the Army Corps of Engineers maintains a vital flood control system. In other words, the issues that raised so much rancor in the 1970s and early 1980s still exist; but less vitriol flows, more listening occurs.This, I believe, is the lasting legacy of the Atchafalaya Basin Agency Management Group (ABAMG), whose work is examined in part III of this book, and those who worked with it. Since the late 1980s, the New Orleans District of the Corps of Engineers has acquired about 47,000 acres of fee lands for public access and has negotiated the acquisition of approximately 150,000 acres of easement land.The easements include nearly all the area between U.S. Highway 190 and I-10. Public access lands lie in three areas. The Corps purchased high-quality cypress and tupelo swamps from willing sellers, who possessed large land holdings. These areas include land in Pointe Coupee, Iberville, St. Martin, and St. Landry parishes. Some of the land borders the Atchafalaya Basin NaturalWildlife Refuge and the Attakapas Wildlife Management Area. Regions intended as natural areas will be created under the Louisiana Natural Areas Registry Program. Although the feasibility agreement molded in 1981 envisioned nu n merous boat ramps, a visitors center, nature trail, and other recreational attractions, few have been built because of the requirement that local or state sponsors provide one-half of the construction funding and the entire cost of operation. However, after Congress appropriated funds in 1996, the Corps began construction of a boat launch at Simmesport, Louisiana, and has drafted plans for five more launch sites. Meanwhile, the state initiated the development of a master plan for the basin. A seventy-five-member Atchafalaya Basin Advisory Committee, which included eight state and federal agencies,completed the document in 1998. It called for the Corps to provide 100 percent of the construction costs of most features, with the state providing only one-quarter of the cost of operation and maintenance.The state agreed to split evenly the cost of recreation features. The master plan covered all major aspects of the Atchafalaya Basin project, including public access, environmental easements , water management, and recreation, including boat launches and other facilities.After signing a memorandum of agreement with Louisiana in 1998, the New Orleans District developed its own master plan, which it completed in 2001.The plan reflected significant citizen input from numerous public meetings.The district was able to initiate work on several of the state recommendations, but congressional authorization must be obtained before other recommendations can be fulfilled. In 1995, as a result of the District removing the Wax Lake Outlet Control Weir (see chapter 11), the District initiated a complete reevaluation of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System. This involves working with other agencies to review flood control and water quality issues, as well as to address emerging environmental concerns, such as a growing population of black bears. In developing water management plans that reconciled flood control and environmental objectives, the District had adopted the idea of creating management units (see chapter 10). In 1992, the Corps began collecting data in the...

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