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Community enthusiasm paid off Wednesday when Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that he nominated the Atchafalaya Coastal Basin as a site for Louisiana’s first National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The NERR — usually pronounced “near” — would be part of a network of federally coordinated reserves devoted to the study of ecosystems where rivers meet the sea. The final decision is up to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which coordinates the system and pays 70% of the operational expenses. The state government pays the rest.

St. Mary people, led by the St. Mary Excel citizens group, have worked to have the Basin designated as the site for the reserve requested by Edwards in July 2019.

They saw educational, economic and environmental opportunities in having a NERR, and they lined up letters of support and persuaded local governments to pass supporting resolutions. Louisiana Sea Grant and LSU specialists involved in the selection process came to St. Mary for educational meetings.

And Berwick High’s team in the annual Rotary Club New Generation event chose a pro-NERR campaign as its civic project.

“The whole community, St. Mary Parish, the whole area came together,” said Catherine Holcomb of St. Mary Excel. “Things happen when people get involved.”

“It’s a great opportunity to research the Basin,” said Executive Director Carrie Stansbury of the Cajun Coast Convention and Tourism Bureau, “and hang our hat on something and say we’re the best at this.”

NERR sites “serve as living laboratories for the study of estuaries and the natural and human changes that they experience,” according to a press release from the Governor’s Office. “They host monitoring, training, and educational activities that connect people to science while helping to build long-term relationships among local communities, state and federal agencies, and other nongovernmental entities. Louisiana is currently the only marine coastal state in
the country without a National Estuarine Research Reserve.”

While NOAA coordinates the system, the states operate NERRs within their boundaries. The shape reserves take varies from site to site. The land-use rules administered by the state continue to be in force at a designated NERR site.

The educational purposes include field trips for K-12 students as well as research sites for graduate students. Four NERRs, three in Florida and one in Oregon, studied by the Eastern Research Group calculated economic impacts ranging from $6 million to $57 million per year.

“From an environmental and scientific point of view, the Atchafalaya River Basin is the nation’s largest freshwater swamp, and where it meets the Gulf of Mexico, there are two active, land-building river deltas and an extremely vibrant estuary,” Edwards said in his press release. “And, as everyone in Louisiana knows, the Atchafalaya Basin is home to a unique and cherished culture and history.”

Edwards began the process of establishing a NERR in coastal Louisiana with a letter to NOAA in July 2019. Over 14 months, LSU and Louisiana Sea Grant assisted the state in evaluating three potential sites in the Atchafalaya, Barataria, and Pontchartrain Basins, engaging over 70 volunteers across state and federal agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations on four committees. In addition, nine public town hall meetings were held to engage
stakeholders and letters of support were collected from a cross-section of public and private interests.

This summer, the executive committee, with members from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Department of Natural Resources, the Governor’s Office, and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries evaluated the proposals, heard presentations from each basin’s team, and reviewed the scoring from a screening committee before recommending the Atchafalaya Basin to the governor.

“The Atchafalaya Coastal Basin is thrilled to be the state’s selection for a site in NOAA’s NERR system,” said Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin. “This region is more than ready and more than capable of exceling in every one of NOAA’s focus areas of stewardship, research, training, and education, and the enthusiasm for this designation from the public in our region has been outstanding.”

With the governor’s selection of the Atchafalaya, a nomination packet will next be sent to NOAA containing more detail about the state’s site selection process
and other materials by July 1. If NOAA approves of the selection and adopts Louisiana into the NERR System, an environmental impact statement and management plan will be drafted, followed by the executing of memoranda of understanding between NOAA and the state, the completion of a final environmental impact statement and management plan, a record of decision, and finally a designation ceremony.

“The addition of Atchafalaya Basin to the NERR System provides Louisiana the opportunity to tell our story at the national level of the unique and spectacular environment and culture that a delta estuary represents compared to other estuaries in the nation and around the world,” said Dr. Robert Twilley, chair of the Louisiana designation team.

Stansbury said she hopes information related to the NERR can be incorporated into the Visitor’s Center in Morgan City, connecting tourists with the reserve.

Holcomb thanked the governor, Allain and Dr. Brian Roberts of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, who has been a booster for an Atchafalaya NERR, for their work on behalf of a Basin site.

“It’s national recognition for a place that’s been overlooked,” Holcomb said, “and is so important to the rest of the country.”

Franklin Delino Pearce, 79, a resident of Morgan City, died Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

He is survived by a daughter, Charlotte Riley; four sons, Franklin Pearce Jr., Todd Pearce, Eugene Pearce and Casey Pearce; 20 grandchildren; numerous great- and great-great-grandchildren; a brother, Arthur Pearce; and three sisters, Barbara Morrison, Beatrice Pearce and Bessie Breaux.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, two sisters and a grandson.

Visitation will be Friday from 9 a.m. until services at 2 p.m. at Hargrave Funeral Home. Burial followed in Morgan City Cemetery.

Hargrave Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Mayor Lee Dragna has proclaimed June 20-25 to be Amateur Radio Week in Morgan City, and the Bayouland Emergency Amateur Radio Service has plans for Dragna to make the first call when the club takes part in the National Field Day event at 1 p.m. June 25.

Amateur radio operators use Field Day to test their equipment by making as many contacts as possible, and to be prepared for emergencies.
In 2021, during Hurricane Ida, the BEARS radio station located upstairs in the old Whitney Bank building at 201 Everett.

The club was on the air continuously for 72 hours to send and receive any health and welfare traffic for the area.

During that time, over 50 stations from throughout the United States connected to the station, W5BMC, to ask information about Morgan City.

In addition, Homeland Security enlisted the help of the hams in the area to provide communication between Ochsner St. Mary and St. Ann’s Hospital in Raceland for evacuating patients.

The club says it is always on standby to help public entities as well as the general public during times of emergencies.

The public is invited to visit the Field Day Operation 2-5 p.m. June 25.

Enter the door at 201 Everett St. and take the elevator upstairs.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Louisiana State Police over numerous allegations of excessive force and racially discriminatory policing.

Justice Department officials announced a civil investigation on Thursday to review state police policies, training, supervision and force investigations, as well as other agency systems for misconduct and discipline.

“Protecting the civil rights of all Americans and building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve are among the Justice Department’s most important responsibilities,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “This investigation, like all of our pattern or practice investigations, will seek to promote transparency, accountability and public trust that is essential to public safety.”

The development comes amid an ongoing federal criminal investigation into Louisiana State Police troopers involved in the deadly arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene in 2019, an event that also sparked a legislative investigation into the response by the agency’s leadership and Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Edwards, who is expected to testify before lawmakers, pledged support and cooperation with the pattern or practice investigation in a prepared statement.

“It is deeply troubling that allegations of systemic misconduct exist that would warrant this type of investigation, but it is absolutely critical that all Louisianans, especially African Americans and other people of color, have their faith, confidence and trust in public safety officers restored,” Edwards said.

“This investigation is one part of that process. I share the Department of Justice’s goal of ensuring that Louisiana State Police are policing in a constitutional way.”

The federal action follows an investigation by The Associated Press that uncovered at least a dozen cases involving troopers accused of beatings of mostly black men over the last decade, as well as a pattern of deflecting blame and impeding efforts to address misconduct.

The AP found troopers made a habit of turning off body cameras during pursuits and supervisors rubber-stamping use-of-force reports. In Greene’s case, state police withheld body camera video that showed troopers beating, stunning and dragging Greene along the road following a crash in Monroe.

“In some cases, troopers omitted uses of force such as blows to the head from official reports and in others troopers sought to justify their actions by claiming suspects were violent, resisting or escaping, all of which were contradicted by video footage,” according to the news wire.

“This systemic misconduct was blessed by top brass at the Louisiana State Police,” Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, told the AP.
Louisiana State Police Col. Lamar Davis, who took over the agency’s leadership amid the Greene scandal, vowed in a statement Thursday to “continue to offer our full cooperation as we have done with all investigations over the last several years.”

“Our personnel truly make a difference in our communities and I am grateful for the sacrifices they make on behalf of public safety. That does not change the fact that we have had some employees violate the trust of our citizens and of their colleagues,” Davis wrote. “When that occurs, it is incumbent upon our agency to uphold our public safety oath and make the changes necessary to ensure that this does not ever happen again.”

Davis pointed to numerous policy changes since taking over as head of the state police, including banning chokeholds and use of impact weapons to the head and neck, instituting a duty to intervene policy and defining accountability for supervisors to review, track and report excessive force incidents.

“Implicit bias training is already in effect and de-escalation/duty to intervene training will begin this year. These improvements and reforms affect every aspect of our department and are only possible through the dedicated efforts of our Troopers, DPS Police Officers and support staff. These steps are vital to ensuring that we provide the best services and constitutional policing possible to the communities we serve,” Davis wrote.