Fourchon Beach access a sore spot for reader

Daniel Joseph Becnel
June 20, 2008
June 25
June 25, 2008
Daniel Joseph Becnel
June 20, 2008
June 25
June 25, 2008

Dear Editor:


The Lafourche Parish Council received an opinion from the district attorney, which it took as an authorization to remove a set of pilings granting access to Fourchon Beach. Even though the original right of way was secured on land that now lies approximately 200 yards in the Gulf of Mexico, it does not matter; servitude is servitude.

With that logic, Councilman Daniel Lorraine’s yard could become a part of that servitude given the current rate of erosion.


The pilings have been removed and now we have public vehicular access to a section of beach. I wonder if Mississippi would allow vehicles on its 26 miles of beach from Pass Christian to Biloxi? Or would Florida allow traffic on its dunes just outside of Pensacola?


Never mind the Wilson’s plovers or terns nesting or their eggs getting crushed or the sea turtle nests being disturbed. Or even the possibility of an explosion because a pipeline leaked and went up in flames after a camper lit a cozy fire for the night. What really matters is that we can drive our cars on the beach.

Never mind, too, that it is private property. According to some, the beach should be for everyone. I wonder if that means I can camp on someone’s front lawn and, perhaps, use their pool?


In fact, beach access has never been closed.


The latest move, however, should get a vote or two come election time. “I got you the beach, now give me your vote.”

Consider the pros and cons of providing access to drive on the beach:


• We have a major source of our country’s oil and gas flow in the pipelines across our shores, yet we are willing to build fires on top of those lines. That is a Homeland Security issue.

• We pray for coastal restoration, yet we destroy nature with our 4x4s.

• And we care about our pleasure; to hell with the wildlife.

It is a great experience to spend a day at the beach; that has never been taken away. However, there is no reason to allow the unguided public to destroy the first line of defense we have – the beaches and dunes, which are being destroyed by nature and man.

The members of the Beachfront Development and the parish council want to provide the public access to the beach, but at what expense?

Instead of allowing driving on the beach, let’s build a pier extending from the center of Louisiana Highway 3090 into the Gulf of Mexico. Allow parking on both sides of the current pilings. It could include a bathhouse, restrooms, picnic areas and the like and would be open to foot-access only.

We don’t need traffic on the beach. After all, walking on a beach does not put lives at risk, a car driven by a non-attentive driver does. I know too well. I held my brother as he died after being hit by a drunk driver on a Mississippi beach.

I’ll have that in mind come Nov. 8 when I go vote.

Forrest A. Travirca III

Lockport