Number: 1999-17
WHEREAS, the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway located in south central Louisiana is the largest river overflow swamp wetland complex in the country, consisting of over one-half million acres of public and private lands and waters that are a haven for fish and wildlife and outdoor recreation; and
WHEREAS, the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp is an extraordinarily productive ecosystem: supporting an annual wild crawfish harvest of 20-30 million pounds; hosting the rookeries of tens of thousands of wading birds; serving as migration and nesting habitat for dozens of species of neotropical migratory songbirds and numerous birds of prey, including bald eagles, ospreys and Mississippi and swallow-tailed kites; and sustaining an outstanding recreational fishery and the cultural heritage of Louisiana swamp life; and
WHEREAS, historically, the Atchafalaya Basin has been managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for navigation and flood control; and
WHEREAS, in the late 1960s the Corps was promoting a dredging scheme that would have dewatered much of the swamp, but, thanks to the National Environmental Policy Act and the intervention of the National Wildlife Federation along with a coalition of local conservationists, the Corps was forced to rethink its dredging plan; and
WHEREAS, after a long, difficult, but successful struggle, agreement was reached in the “Compromise Land Use and Management Plan” for the Atchafalaya Basin which was adopted by the state in 1982 and later authorized by Congress in 1985-86; and
WHEREAS, after more than ten years of quiescence, the State of Louisiana reinvigorated the planning process by developing a state master plan for the Atchafalaya Basin with the participation of eight state and six federal agencies, local governments, and essentially all other public and private interests that have a stake in the use and management of the Basin; and
WHEREAS, the master plan includes operation and maintenance of existing public lands and 17,000 additional acres that the Corps of Engineers will purchase for public use and habitat conservation; acquisition by the State of 1,500 acres of lands strategically located for recreational uses; monitoring of timber and other environmental easements acquired by the Corps; operation and maintenance of water management units at Buffalo Cove and East Grand Lake; and development of over a dozen recreational and user enhancements; and
WHEREAS, the cost to implement the plan over the next 15 years will be $250 million from the federal government and $85 million from the state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, on October 26, 1998, the State of Louisiana and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing the State to be the local sponsor for the overall project and both the Corps and State to work cooperatively to fully implement the plan;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 18-21, 1999, in Houston, Texas, supports state and federal efforts to preserve and restore the wet, wild and productive habitat of the Atchafalaya Basin for wildlife and people and the appropriation of funds to implement these efforts.