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The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program will start to revamp its conservation plan next month.
BTNEP Director Susan Testroet-Bergeron announced that her organization would begin updating its Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan while speaking at a Bayou Industrial Group luncheon on Jan. 11. The first meeting related to the CCMP will take place on Feb. 4.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees all national estuary programs, approved BTNEP’s current version of the CCMP in 1996. According to the document, BTNEP began work on it in 1990, and it was designed to guide the organization for 25 years. Testroet Bergeron said that revising the plan was BTNEP’s main goal for 2016.
“Our big goal in 2016 is to start to re-look at our Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan and to engage people to participate with us, so hopefully it can be a plan that can last another 25 years,” Testroet-Bergeron said.
According to Testroet-Bergeron, BTNEP will begin assigning members to the five committees focusing on specific parts of the estuary program, such as ecological management, economics and outreach, at the February meeting. She said that the organization has an 18-month schedule for the update, with an additional 6 months to print it and get it approved by the EPA.
The CCMP currently features 51 action plans to address the issues facing the Barataria-Terrebonne basin. A rule with all national estuary programs requires consensus agreement on action plans, meaning all members must agree with the action. With membership ranging from the industrial to the environmentalist side, BTNEP has a wide range of sometimes clashing interests. BTNEP’s director said that she does not see the consensus requirement presenting any problems for what the estuary program wants to do.
“I think it’s important that everybody gets to speak their mind. So what happens is you get to hear everybody’s voice, you get to hear everybody’s idea, so that you’re not coming with a narrow view,” Testroet-Bergeron said. “Your view becomes more and more wide. You’re trying really hard to figure out how all these fit together.”
Testroet-Bergeron said that her organization’s willingness to invite stakeholders from across the spectrum is what differentiates BTNEP from the many local groups focused on coastal survival.
“We have government, we have business, we have industry, we have private citizens. So that idea to have everybody together [is different],” she said.
She also explained that BTNEP’s focus on the macro level gives her and her colleagues a unique view of what must be done.
“I think one of the things we do that’s different than other organizations is that we’re interested in how everything works together. When you look at ecosystems, it’s much better to look at the total, and not just the pieces and parts. So our organization has an opportunity to look at the total,” Testroet-Bergeron said.
While re-doing the CCMP is the primary objective for this year, BTNEP will not halt its other projects in the meantime. At the luncheon, Testroet-Bergeron talked about the different measures her organization has taken, including monitoring invasive species in the state, consulting for freshwater diversion plans and promoting nature-based tourism.
Testroet-Bergeron said a big part of BTNEP’s program is education and outreach programs to promote citizen involvement. Getting more locals on board will help with devising the new CCMP and working on the current action plans.
“If we can get people to come with us and help us with those things this year, we have lots of projects we want to do as well,” she said. •
BTNEP Director Susan Testoret-Bergeron speaks at the Bayou Industrial Group luncheon on Jan. 11. Testroet-Bergeron spoke about BTNEP’s current and future plans and called on local businesses to join her program.
