T’bonne chamber chair commits to coastal concerns

Houma-Terrebonne Parish Chamber of Commerce Chairman Billy Foster acknowledged greater visibility is in store as business leaders increase involvement with coastal restoration efforts.

Following a presentation made by America’s Wetland Foundation Managing Director Valsin “Val” Marmillion at the chamber membership luncheon last Tuesday, Foster said although the chamber had always been an advocate in terms of coastal restoration and hurricane protection – it backed passage of a quarter-cent sales tax for Morganza to the Gulf funding and has representation on a new Morganza Funding Task Force – he would support personal participation in physical activities, beyond financial contributions, that includes volunteer work to rebuild marshlands.

“I can’t speak for others, but it sounds like a great project for us to get involved in,” Foster said when asked about building artificial islands such as those that were placed at Isle de Jean Charles by the AWF in September 2011.

At the heart of his presentation, Marmillion told attendees that if coastal restoration is to take place, it is up to locals to take action and let others know that Louisiana marshlands are as critical to commerce and the national economy as they are to the regional environment.

“Coasts around the world are imploding,” Marmillion said. “[Terrebonne Parish is] the epicenter of this problem [as Louisiana loses 16.5 square miles of coastal marshland a year]. … Terrebonne is not the classic case of erosion, but the extreme case.”

In addition to explaining efforts undertaken by the AWF, the managing director noted a need to move beyond concepts and abstracts and toward results.

Marmillion noted that mitigation costs with the federal government outpace the expense of actual protection projects. He then called on business leaders to aggressively act for their own interests with a strategic plan and not wait on federal assistance.

An approach promoted by the AWF includes regional residents putting themselves on the world map in terms of becoming known as an endangered area; educating cities and states up the Mississippi River to conditions that have flowed downstream and created a dead zone off the Louisiana coast; and aggressively backing the development of ecological and economic policies that benefit coastal Louisiana.

Marmillion said dealing with extreme conditions means taking extreme positions. This includes making extreme plans with a unified voice that shows Washington and the rest of the nation what innovative ideas look like in real life.

“[We] have the type of notoriety that no one would want,” Marmillion said. “Being on the list of the fastest disappearing places on earth.”

“Our tribulations with working at the federal level have been many,” Morganza Action Coalition Vice President Sharon Bergeron said. “To date, we have received zero dollars from the federal government [for coastal restoration and hurricane protection]. “

Bergeron linked Marmillion’s message to local groups, parish government and the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District which have led the way in terms of generating funds for coastal restoration.

“We’ve got to take care of ourselves and protect the nation,” Marmillion said. “The environment is not more important than the economy … [but] we will not have energy security or economic security if this place goes under water. … Our future is to come up with our own solutions.”

“Commitment to the wetlands and the coast has been longstanding with the chamber,” Foster said. “We will do what we can.”