NEWS

Scouting the Basin: A lesson in ambition

Paul Kieu
pkieu@theadvertiser.com

Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2014.

I took on this project to learn about the conservation efforts and high-adventure opportunities available to Boy Scouts in Acadiana. After learning about the trek last year, I was drawn to the program this summer to chat with a group of boys who had not seen our home outside of reality television. I have been in those boys' shoes before, having done a 50-mile scout trek. I became an Eagle Scout in 2007, and because I know scouting, I thought it would fascinating to try to see Louisiana from the perspective of boys from Indiana. - Paul Kieu

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned from my time in the Boy Scouts of America was to see past an uncertain and scary present and reach for often lofty, but attainable goals. For me, that was canoeing 50 miles on a previously unknown Buffalo River in Arkansas or powering through an often frustrating, but ultimately rewarding seven-year journey to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

For Troop 383 of Evansville, Indiana, conquering unknown obstacles in an unfamiliar environment was their challenge. The troop arrived in Lafayette on June 29 to participate in the Boy Scouts' Swamp Base, a five-day, 60-mile kayak trek through the Atchafalaya River Basin organized by the Evangeline Area Council.

Director Ben Pierce says the high adventure camp challenges scouts with "one of the most hostile environments" out there. In its second year, the camp is already competing with the larger high adventure bases operated by the national Boy Scouts.

Troop leader and father Christopher Everett was intrigued by the "swamp" part of Swamp Base. His hope, aside from valuable father-son time, was that the scouts would understand "that not everywhere is southern Indiana."

Everett was one of two dads who accompanied 10 of the troop's members, from age 13 to 16, on the trek that began June 30 and was completed on the Fourth of July.

The hide of a water moccasin snake is draped over a welcome sign as counselors of the Swamp Base program converse near a campfire on Island Outpost in Lake Fausse Pointe State Park near Loreauville, LA, Thursday, July 3, 2014.

I joined them for two of their five days as they paddled through the heart of the Atchafalaya Basin. My goal was to learn what the camp offered the scouts and to see for myself how a group of Midwestern teenagers would respond to the Louisiana swamp in the summertime.

Paddling takes up a majority of the 60-mile trek crosses four Louisiana parishes. But there are several activities that aim to teach the boys about swamp recreation, local culture and wetlands conservation.

One night is spent aboard houseboats, where houseboat captain Derek Breaux, who leads the Connections to the Wetlands course, teaches the scouts about the watershed that feeds into the basin.

Breaux, whose family was originally from Acadiana, was raised in Phoenix and moved to Louisiana to study environmental science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and to work on coastal conservation efforts.

"It's always been a huge passion of mine to come back and do wetlands conservation," he said. He hopes the boys will take what they learned about the watershed back to Indiana and remember that their actions back home have far-reaching impacts on the area he now considers home.

Following the houseboat experience, the scouts portaged, or carried, their boats over a levee at the Cypress Cove landing near Henderson and were rewarded with a ride on a 450-horsepower airboat.

"It was impressive" 16-year-old John Bizal said. "I was just happy to see wildlife. In Indiana, you don't get too much variation. It's fields, trees and corn. It's not too exciting where we're from."

On the first day of paddling, the boys encountered plant life they hadn't seen in Indiana as they struggled to paddle their kayaks through large patches of water hyacinth. The invasive plant was introduced to the area following the 1884 World's Fair in New Orleans. It has overtaken many waterways in the South and is a tough obstacle for even the most experienced boaters.

"When the (air)boat went over that, it was like 'wow, it's not even struggling.' It was wonderful." Bizal said.

I enjoy paddling whenever I get the opportunity to be on the water, and I have encountered the water hyacinth on multiple occasions. It can be extremely frustrating, and after getting through a patch of the plant, the motion comes with a freeing feeling.

Ian Woldt, the wilderness survival program instructor, squeezes water from a water vine into the mouth of Boy Scout Martin Everett, 13, during a course on Rougarou Island in the Atchafalaya River Basin near Catahoula, LA, Tuesday, July 1, 2014. The scouts learned about wilderness survival techniques on the island during a stop on their 60-mile kayak trek with the Boy Scouts of America Swamp Base program. 

Paul Kieu, The Advertiser

The next stop for the Scouts is 10 miles to the south. On Rougarou Island, an undeveloped, primitive island south of the town of Catahoula, they would spend the night and learn wilderness survival skills from instructor Ian Woldt.

A thick swarm of mosquitos greeted us on the island, but they didn't seem to bother the boys after they bedded down in sleeping hammocks. The insects may not have kept them up, but there were other obstacles to a restful night. Scout Garrett Erk joked that his survival strategy was to "stay away from Scoutmasters. They snore really loud."

"You can't hear the rougarou over them!" Bizal added, referring to the legend of a werewolf-like creature based in Cajun folklore that serves as the namesake of the island.

While on the island, Woldt taught skills like fishing with spools of thread, starting campfires with limited materials, and finding native plants that could provide hydration in desperate situations.

From Rougarou Island, the boys paddled to a site known as Island Outpost. The 24-acre, state-owned island is in the heart of Lake Fausse Pointe State Park and is maintained by the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. The boys would spend two nights on the island learning about fishing, stand-up paddle boarding, and blow-dart crafting.

The dart crafting was inspired by hunting traditions of the area's native Chitimacha Tribe. It culminated in a competition that pitted friends, brothers, and even fathers and sons against each other. Troop father David Uhr bested his son Austin, 16, at the friendly blow-dart shooting competition, leaving Austin frustrated.

"He won't brag about it," Austin said. "He's going to have it somewhere (at home), and every time I see it, I'm just going to be like 'ugh!'" referring to a patch awarded to his father by the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana.

After spending several hours with the boys on Island Outpost, I realized their demeanor had changed. While they were all naturally exhausted, the scouts seemed happier, less timid and more confident in their abilities. They seemed different, even though it had only been 48 hours since I had seen them. They had picked up new skills and had learned the pacing and culture of the Swamp Base.

The boys departed early on their final day, kayaking through ancient cypress trees in Lake Fausse Pointe until they reach Grand Avoille Cove in St. Mary Parish.

Pierce and his staff hope the boys will reflect on everything they learned and leave with positive ideas about Acadiana culture and and natural value that the Basin has to offer.

David Uhr and his son Austin Uhr, 16, participate in a moonlight kayak cruise around an island in Lake Fausse Pointe State Park near New Iberia, LA, Thursday, July 3, 2014. The Uhrs and fellow members Boy Scouts of America Troop 383 of Evansville, IN, completed the final leg of their sixty-mile kayak trek through the Atchafalaya Basin as part of the BSA Evangline Area Council's Swamp Base program on Friday, July 4. 


Photo by Paul Kieu, The Advertiser

Robert Donadieu, a 20-year-old UL student and Mandeville native, serves as director of trek guides and led three treks though the Basin in the 2014 season. To Donadieu, the program is a means to correct misconceptions people have about an area of the state that he now considers his home.

"We're not just out here like some of the other high adventure bases that are just kind of like, 'Come on and conquer what we have to offer.' We're much more like, 'Look at the beauty we have out in the swamp.'" Donadieu said. "When you watch TV and hear about the swamp, it's always this mucky, disgusting, smelly place. When you come out here and look around, you realize that there's so much beauty, and there's so much done wrong with it.

Robert Donadieu, a Boy Scouts of America Swamp Base trek guide, throws a cast net while fishing off of a house boat in the Atchafalaya Basin near Henderson, LA, Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

"There's so much neglect in it, and it's got so much real potential. To see those kids come in and say, 'It's wet, it's humid, it's nasty,' and leave saying things like 'It's majestic. It's diverse,' it's really a lot of fun, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else."

"Hopefully they see that this place is very beautiful, and that they can affect it greatly," echoed Brice Nepveux, an Island Outpost instructor.

The effect of the trip on visiting scouts can be sharp and swift. Pierce said they have "had Scouts who come off the water saying they want to go to UL and study wetlands research. Even though we only have them for a week, they learn so much about who we are, and they get excited about their future in the state."

Pierce's passion is contagious. As the scouts were departing, I heard several of them describing the beauty and wonder of the swamp in ways that would have made Pierce proud.

Pierce joined the Evangeline Area Council to develop Swamp Base in 2010. Originally conceived simply as a conservation project, the project grew into something more. To celebrate 100 years of scouting, the Council made a pledge of 100 years of service in the Atchafalaya Basin, and the Swamp Base program was born out of that commitment.

"It started in 2009 as just an idea of doing a tree-planting event for our upcoming centennial year, and as it's kind of morphed into that, we wanted to get a chance to expose more of our kids to the area," Pierce said.

"It's a 100-year commitment of going out there and getting our Scouts involved in the Atchafalaya," Pierce explained about the program's seed planting and trash pickup efforts. "It's an opportunity to talk about the global issues of it and to be able to get out there and do a good turn daily by helping make it better than (the scouts) found it."

The sun sets on Island Outpost in Lake Fausse Pointe State Park near Loreauville, LA, Thursday, July 3, 2014.

Combining conservation efforts and education with recreation, the staff has been able to mold the program into a destination for Boy Scouts across the country. According to Pierce, more than 300 people have registered for the 2015 season. The program has even managed to attract some of the area's most passionate basin enthusiasts to show off the basin's treasures.

Pierce is hoping that will be a common reaction. The Evangeline Area Council is in the middle of a $30 million capital campaign to build a 450-acre base for the high adventure program that they hope will be used not only by scouts but members of the public. The planned site is on state-owned land to be leased near the town of Catahoula and will feature a welcome center, lodging, classrooms and trails among other amenities.

"We'd also include special needs groups who would be able to come out there and access the swamp like they never have before," Pierce added about the facility. "There are so many groups interested in the area but they don't have a place that they can sit there and say this is where we can meet, and the swamp gets to be their home now."

The ambitious project, for which leasing agreements and plans are being finalized, is being fast-tracked for a summer 2016 opening. The thought of such a rapidly planned and built facility does not faze Pierce.

"It's a screaming fast schedule," he said, "but this thing can't take long. It has to happen. We shouldn't be waiting on this thing to happen. We need to move it forward quickly."

Martin Everett, 13, and his father Christopher prepare to depart from the houseboats to begin their second day of the BSA Swamp Base program in the Atchafalaya River Basin near Henderson, LA, Tuesday, July 1, 2014. The program is a 60-mile kayak trek through the basin area and is held by the Evangline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Ambitions seem to be a recurring theme throughout the culture of Swamp Base, and the attitude seems to make its way to the campers. Everett's main hope in bringing his son, Martin, 13, and Troop 383 to Louisiana for the excursion was to teach them about going after their goals. He said he hoped "for them to get that sense of accomplishment," and to see the difference between, "Hey, we almost did it," and, "Hey, I can actually do this!"

And that can-do attitude is exactly the kind that the Evangeline Area Council will need to conquer its capital campaign and build the Swamp Base facility in time for the 2016 round of treks. With equally passionate and goal-driven people like Donadieu and Breaux behind the scenes, Pierce and the staff seem comfortable trying to achieve the goal of further transforming the Swamp Base program into something bigger and better.

Drawing comparisons to the national organization's crown jewel, 137,000-acre New Mexico Rocky Mountain high adventure base, Everett said he wants to continue to return to Louisiana for BSA Swamp Base.

"I want to make this the kayaking version of Philmont."

Paul Kieu tests out his GoPro camera at the BSA Swamp Base.

Paul Kieu was born and raised in Abbeville, and is proud to call Acadiana home. He has been a staff photographer with The Daily Advertiser since 2012. He enjoys telling the stories and capturing the moments that make this little pocket of the South special. Paul achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in addition to receiving a Bronze Palm from Abbeville's Troop 85 in 2007. You can reach him by email at pkieu@theadvertiser.com, on Twitter, @TDAPhotos, or on Instagram, @paulvkieu.

Want to know more about photographing the natural wonders of Acadiana? Join Paul on Aug. 6 at The Daily Advertiser, where he'll offer photography tips and tools and will share some of his images and experiences from the trip through the Atchafalaya Basin. If you are interested in attending, email us at news@theadvertiser.com. Details about the event will be published on theadvertiser.com.