Archive for the ‘Upcoming Activities’ Category

“Friends” Basin News Update

Saturday, April 28th, 2018

Check in at the Friends of the Atchafalaya group on facebook regularly for your Atchafalaya Basin information.
The Atchafalaya Basin needs your support!
Enjoy Atchafalaya every day.
_______

Friends of the Atchafalaya

Meetings of the FOA usually occur on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Check the facebook group page for the next meeting.

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Free Photo Session at LWF Convention

Friday, February 15th, 2013

From Rebecca Triche at the Louisiana Wildlife Federation:

LWF’s upcoming convention in Baton Rouge will feature a wildlife photography workshop, which is free and open to the public – particularly LWF Affiliate members in the Baton Rouge area. The photography workshop will feature presentations from local professional photographer Joey Bordelon and avid amateur photographer Father Gerald Burns. The session will be held from 3 – 4:30pm on Saturday, February 23 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Baton Rouge. Both photographers will talk about their years of experience in outdoor and wildlife photography, recommend places in Louisiana that offer excellent opportunities for outdoor photography, share their tips on photographing wildlife, show beautiful photos, and Bordelon will explain how to get good shots using various cameras available whether from a camera phone or higher end gear. For more information go to: www.lawildlifefed.org.

 

Can it be 2013 Already? Resolutions…

Sunday, December 30th, 2012

2012 was a milestone year for me. Like many friends my age, i have been dealing with health issues more and more over the past few years. Unlike some, i was lucky enough to get a new lease on life this year. I underwent heart surgery a few months ago and now have a new heart valve and a couple of open arteries feeding blood to my repaired heart.

So it is now time for New Year’s resolutions and mine are to exercise more so that i can regain my strength and stamina after having my activities limited for several months, and to try to make this site more useful to all of you who come to find out about the Atchafalaya Basin.

I am now a commissioner on the Atchafalaya Trace Commission, the State-created organization that controls the Heritage Area, and I plan to work closer with the Heritage Area and the FOA to increase visibility of the challenges faced inside and outside of the floodways. If you are interested in helping us to bring attention to the Basin, please come to FOA board meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month, usually at the Audubon Coastal Initiative conference room on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge; or to the Trace Commission meetings every second month at the Capitol Park Welcome Center near the State Capitol; check this site or http://www.Atchafalaya.org for dates.

If you would like to sponsor a meeting in your area, we would be happy to make a presentation on the Basin to your group.

The Friends have composed two resolutions that will be presented to the Louisiana Wildlife Federation Convention this February in Baton Rouge. Both relate to management of the floodways by the Corps of Engineers. If these are approved by the Federation and its affiliates (of which FOA is one,) they will be forwarded to the appropriate agencies to put the Federation on record as supporting work to improve the water quality and wildlife habitat in the Basin. You can read those resolutions, along with one that would designate litter as a pollutant in State waters, at the following links.

1) Supporting increased efforts in the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System to improve water quality and protect habitat without defeating flood control efforts

2) Supporting stronger permit conditions and enforcement actions for construction activities allowed inside the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway system 

3) Supporting the addition of trash to the louisiana list of waterway impairments and the establishment of trash load limits for impaired louisiana waterways

If you have any comments on the resolutions or requests for meeting presentations, you can drop me a note at charlesc (at) basinbuddies.org.

And have a peaceful and fulfilling year.

Charles Caillouet, FOA Board Secretary and Webmaster

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FOA Annual Member Meeting

Monday, April 9th, 2012

For open release: (Please forward to any appropriate media outlet.)

The Friends of the Atchafalaya, a group dedicated to promoting conservation of the historic, cultural, and natural resources of the greater Atchafalaya Basin region, will hold its annual membership meeting at 6:30 PM at the Bluebonnet Branch of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, on April 24, 2012. All interested members of the public are invited to hear reports on the condition of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, and new archaeological findings in the area, and to discuss the future of the Atchafalaya Basin. Bring your talents to an organization committed to conserving a great Louisiana resource.

Three reports are scheduled for presentation at the meeting:
Basin watcher Charles Caillouet will describe several different “Atchafalaya Basins” and relate a brief history of the area, and will comment on some effects of the flood of 2011.
Debra Credeur, Executive Director of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area  will talk about the status of the Heritage Area, their projects and the groups that are working with them.
Naturalist and Basin researcher Jim Delahoussaye will report on some surprising findings in middens (refuse piles) at a 1400 year old Native American village site inside the Atchafalaya Floodway.

 

 

ABP Annual Basin Plan Meetings

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

From Steve Chustz at the Atchafalaya Basin Program:

“The FY2013 Draft Annual Basin Plan …was approved yesterday [Nov. 9, 2011] by the Research and Promotion Board. The plan is now available on our web site and we will be presenting it in our public meetings next week. Below is the schedule for our public meetings.  Thanks for all of your support.”

November 14, 2011
6:00 p.m.
St. Mary Parish
Morgan City Auditorium
728 Myrtle St.
Morgan City LA 70380

November 16, 2011
6:00 p.m.
Iberville Parish
Council Chambers
5850 Meriam Street
Plaquemine LA 70765

November 17, 2011
6:00 p.m.
St. Martin Parish
St. Martin Parish Council Chambers
301 West Port St.
St. Martinville LA 70582

 

Volunteers Wanted by CRCL

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

This just in from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana:


Subject: Volunteers Needed to Maintain Cypress Trees and Help Grow Wetland Plants
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:32:58 -0500
From: “Volunteers” <coalition@crcl.org>

Volunteers Details: Register Now

Thanks to the energetic volunteers who helped us unload 1,240 cypress trees on October 11, 2010. Over 200 trees were packed into trucks and trailers and brought to the Big Mar Planting Site. The remaining 1,000 trees are being held at the Pelican Greenhouse thanks to the generosity of City Park and the LSU AgCenter until they are transferred to Jean Lafitte National Park for planting in early December.

We still need your help!

The trees need to be maintained until early December. Volunteers will be working with the LSU AgCenter and AmeriCorps to weed and water the trees and keep them healthy. In addition, volunteers will be helping to propagate marsh grasses for projects on Elmer’s Island and Bayou St. John.

We are looking for 25 volunteers for each of the following dates:
·         Thursday, October 21st
·         Wednesday, October 27th
·         Wednesday, November 3rd
·         Wednesday, November 10th
·         Wednesday, November 17th
·         Monday, November 22nd

Volunteers are asked to volunteer from 9:00am to 3:00 pm and will need to supply their own lunch. Volunteers will also learn about Louisiana’s land loss issues and the BP Oil Spill and how projects such as this one will help restore the coast.
Feel free to volunteer for one or multiple days!

This volunteer opportunity is part of 10,000 Trees for Louisiana project being completed in partnership with the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, RPM Ecosystems Gulf Coast LLC, Restore the Earth Foundation, LSU AgCenter, AmeriCorps and Entergy Corporation.

Register online at www.crcl.org
Or by calling (888) LACOAST

Basin Program Meetings

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

It’s time to start the cycle of input again to get projects for the 2012 Atchafalaya Basin Program Annual Plan.

The Basin Program Research and Promotion Board will hold three meetings this week to give citizens a chance to propose (or propose again) projects that they think should be included in the next Annual Plan.

The details are at the ABP web site calendar but the basics are:

August 16, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. at the Morgan City Auditorium in St. Mary Parish

August 18, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. at the Henderson Rec. Building in St. Martin Parish

August 19, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. at the Parish Courthouse Council Chambers (Plaquemine) in Iberville Parish

Get out and be heard.

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Wildlife Viewing Platform

Friday, August 6th, 2010

The Corps and Wildlife and Fisheries are inviting us to help them finish construction of a wildlife observation platform at Sherburne South Farm on September 25, 2010. The new date is October 9, 2010.

Go HERE for more information.

Tour du Teche Canoe Race

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

On September 17-19, 2010 the Tour du Teche Canoe Race will take place on Bayou Teche, on the western edge of the traditional Atchafalaya Basin. The 60 hour adventure race starts in port Barre and ends in Morgan City, LA.

It is sponsored by:
Cajuns for Bayou Teche,
Kiwannis Club de Pont Breaux,
The Coffee Break & Bayou Teche Brewery

For more information, go to www.techeproject.com

Water Sentinels Training Planned

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Water Sentinels Citizen Water Monitoring Training Scheduled

Who: Sierra Club Water Sentinels in partnership with
Cajuns for Bayou Teche and
Acadiana Resource Conservation & Development

What: Water Sampling Introductory Training
When: Friday, May 7, 2010
Where: LSU Agriculture Research and Extension Building  – 114 Courthouse St. Breaux Bridge, LA 70517

CONTACT: Woody Martin at 337-298-8380 or hrmartin2sc@gmail.com to register or for further information.

The purpose of program is to inform people about water quality in Bayou Teche by providing an opportunity to do hands-on sampling and monitoring.  Cajuns for Bayou Teche and Sierra Club will provide water sampling test kits and training on May 7, 2010.  There is no charge for this session.  We invite people who are interested in Bayou Teche water quality and who would like to continue in the role of volunteer water sampling technician.  No commitment is necessary to attend the training. All interested people are invited.

Schedule
9:00 am    Coffee and snacks provided by Acadiana RC&D

9:30 am    Video presentation – The Missouri Stream Team

10:00 am    Tim Guilfoile, Water Sentinels trainer, explains the water quality parameters that we will be sampling and their significance to surface water quality. We will start with Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Conductivity, Turbidity, Temperature

12:00 pm    Lunch – Gumbo at the Breaux Bridge pavilion provided by Acadiana RC&D

1:00 pm    Discussion of water quality parameters and hands on practice with sampling equipment provided by Cajuns for Bayou Teche at the Breaux Bridge pavilion

3:00 pm    Session ends