Office of Coastal Management

COASTAL PROGRAM ACCELERATES WITH LAND AGREEMENT APPROVAL

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Assistant Secretary Katherine Vaughan's most recent accomplishment has been attaining approval from the House and Senate Natural Resources committees of the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company's (LL&E) agreement to donate land to the state for a number of planned restoration projects. She said the approval marks the way for the state's coastal program to begin a $5.5 million reclamation project that will benefit 2,500 acres of marsh.

The West Belle Pass Headland Restoration project is located just west of Port Fourchon in Lafourche parish and is bound by Timbalier Bay, Bayou Lafourche and Belle Pass on the east, and the Gulf of Mexico. This Coastal Wetlands, Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) project is designed to halt the continuing encroachment of Timbalier Bay onto the marshes of Belle Pass. Over 180 acres of land will be built as a result of the project.

Plans for the project include the use of dredged materials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' maintenance dredging of Belle Pass and Bayou Lafourche, the filling canals and small waterbodies, along with the construction of dams and controls.

The state's maximum share of the cost of the project is $1.5 million. DNR Coastal Restoration Division project manager Jim Buchtel said the project construction should begin in early November.

Editors: For more information, please contact the DNR Public Information Office at (504) 342-8955 or DNR/CRD Project Manager Jim Buchtel at (504) 342-7308.