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	Atchafalaya Basinkeeper association US (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Meeting	from 24/05/2011 to 26/05/2011
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Written by Un an pour la Planète - Published on 06/02/2012 by 20minutes.fr

Louisiana I love you

If such events had occurred in the 19th century, the Grimm brothers would have probably written a fairytale about it for children. These days, the success of a single man for a good cause is so rare that his perseverance deserves to be used as an example for future generations. Here's the story.

Once upon a time, in the swamps of Louisiana

One needs to wander through the aisles of this vast green flooded area by boat in order to truly appreciate the beauty of this place. Colourful birds and patches of 100-year-old cypress trees instead of people in traditional clothing or architectural wonders: does Mother Nature also have her Venice? The Atchafalaya basin, which is home to over 300 species of birds and hundreds of fish, shelters many protected species. Located near the Mississippi delta, it is widely regarded as being one of the most productive lakes in the world. Its services – a habitat for birds, tourism, flood control and protection against hurricanes – are valued at $6.6 million per year.

When Dean Wilson stayed there in 1984, to prepare himself for the swamps of the Amazon, his final destination, it was love at first sight. He moved there as a fisherman, and, for the next 16 years, he shared the area with local industry: petroleum, fishing and timber extraction. But in 2000, shortly after having created the "Atchafalaya Basinkeeper" association to preserve the basin, a confrontation became inevitable.

How perseverance turned into a hammer of justice when faced with a destructive, profit-seeking mindset

Justified by the insecticidal properties that are found in the bark of dying Tupelo cypress trees, the industry's devastation in the marsh was the result of "clever" marketing. Cypress mulch spread at the base of trees protects our gardens' plants from insects. As the demand for it was therefore created, all that was needed was an operating licence to respond to this new demand: a mere formality in the Atchafalaya basin, where private owners held over 50% of it.

But blinded by the sight of profits, the entrepreneurs exploited the resources without worrying about sustainability. They cut down cypress trees 150 years too early to have the characteristics for which they are sold. It didn't seem to matter, people were buying and the money was pouring in, and this allowed them to finance the support of well-positioned politicians so as to maintain the legality of their operations.

Fighting this catastrophe by himself, Dean spoke out: "In Brazil, people destroy forests because they are starving, but in the United States, it's just because of greed!" Battling against the corruption of individuals, politicians and industrial lobbies, it took him nearly 7 years of painstaking investigation and the support of six senators before everyone finally saw the light.

A definite victory but the struggle is far from over

In 2006, it became illegal to cut down the swamp's cypress trees and in 2009 it stopped for good. In the end, over 10% of a natural treasure turned to dust. Yet, other dangers still threaten the basin: mercury and oil residue propagated by production plants, pesticides and sediments brought in from all over the country are shipped along the Mississippi, sharp growth in the production of chips for fuel. But Dean remains optimistic. Indeed, more and more people, fishermen included, are now getting involved to defend the basin's cause. For who better than the locals - who appreciate the basin's services and their genuine value - would be willing to demonstrate such commitment to ensure the integrity of an ecosystem such as this one?

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The Atchafalaya basin

Description

The Atchafalaya is a 220 km long distributary in Mississippi which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The basin, which covers an area of 5665 km2, hosts over half of America's migratory inflow. Its role is key as it's one of the last refuges for the following protected species: peregrine falcons, Florida panthers, Bachman's warblers, ivory-billed woodpeckers, black Louisiana bears, white-tailed deer, not to mention bobcats, coyotes, alligators, beaver, nutria, mink, otters, muskrats, armadillos, foxes and opossums. The basin can be divided into three main parts: the north, which mainly consists of a hardwood forest; the center, which includes a Tupelo cypress pond (3600 km2, the largest in North America); the south, which contains a brackish marsh.

The threats

The danger to the marsh is primarily an increase in the level of sedimentation: in a swamp, flooded and submerged areas naturally alternate over time. However, with the arrival of mankind, the basin's hydrology has been completely modified due to the excavation of canals, the increased sediment discharges and the building of dams which has reduced its exchanges with the ocean by 50%. The sediment level is essential in the growth of Tupelo cypresses: if it varies too much from one generation to another, it can prevent the natural regeneration of the tree. Too many sediments and pesticides are now brought in to Mississippi from the entire country due to the growth of intensive agriculture. It is for this reason that the policy causing 60% of sediments to be diverted from the Mississippi to the Atchafalaya must be stopped until a sediment trapping system has been established.

There are other threats of secondary importance:
- Residual mercury and oil pollution caused by local industry.
- Waste generated by industrial and sport fishing activities.
- Ownership of the basin - by private owners who possess over 50% of it - is an obstacle to inspections as well as the development of ecotourism and therefore the preservation of the site.
- The production of wood chips, which supplies European thermal power plants but leads to illegal logging activities, even on public land.

To address these threats, the best defence is unity between protagonists, especially fishermen. In parallel, the association is working on a project to map the wetlands, as well as a certification project to permanently protect the cypress trees.

Industrial context

Louisiana is a resource-rich region thanks to its marshes. The state first attracted sailors thanks to its lavish fishing conditions, which allowed the restaurant industry and sport fishing to develop, both of which are still popular in the region. Later on, during the industrial revolution, the region was unable to hide its hydrocarbon treasures for very long. Dozens of entrepreneurs came in to drill wells in the marshes, resulting in the construction of multiple canals. Despite the fact that they went bankrupt, most of their facilities are still standing today. A shame, especially as the infrastructure are decaying, polluting the land even more. Lastly, the timber industry invited itself in at the beginning of the previous century, halving the stock of cypress trees just before the 1929 depression. Fortunately, the second wave of clear-cutting was halted by the Basinkeepers in 2009, limiting the loss in patrimony to 10%.

The Atchafalaya Basinkeeper association

Its founder

In 1984, Dean Wilson was a Spanish immigrant in the United States. During the 16 years that followed, he simply lived off of fishing, but he took every opportunity to explore every corner of the basin. His civic action began with a commitment to fight the massive deforestation of Tupelo cypress trees ("cypressmulch"). Amazed at the inefficiency and the powerlessness of the rangers (all in all, they were just two, without a boat, in charge of watching over the huge pond) when faced with the industrial deforestation carnage, he came to help them, first as an individual and later with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper association. The "success story" of this cypress rescue operation has greatly contributed to his integration within the local population, although at times some have criticised his actions. Today, Dean lives with his wife, his two children Al and Aramis, his two dogs and his patrol craft in his wooden house on the banks of the Atchafalaya, near Baton Rouge.

The association and its partners

Atchafalaya Basinkeeper is an organisation headed by Dean. Its mission is to protect and restore the Atchafalaya basin's ecosystem. It is actively supported by the "Waterkeeper Alliance" and "LEAN". Cara, Dean's companion, is also actively involved in environmental education programs in the area's schools.

The Waterkeeper Alliance is an organisation that was founded in 1999 by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It oversees approximately 200 local associations that monitor rivers, lakes and coasts on the 6 continents. It assists them by providing scientific and legal expertise as well as support in terms of strategy and media communication. The organisation's priority is to ensure the protection of aquatic environments.

LEAN (Louisiana Environmental Action Network) is an information agency that was founded in 1985. Its efforts are focused on pollution in the state of Louisiana. Since then, it has become one of most frequently consulted agencies by companies prior to their implantation.

Détails de l’affaire « cypress mulch »

1990: after the eradication of cypress trees in Florida, discussions regarding the implantation of farms in the Louisiana swamp forests were well underway. Industrial entities started to contact the Atchafalaya basin's private owners to inform them of the growth of the cypress tree market. The first cuts followed almost immediately.

1998: discussions regarding the legality of the tree farms eventually began under the pressure of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. The association had started to tackle a complex problem.

Two entities became involved in law enforcement:
- The "Corps" (US Army Corps of Engineers) is an American civil engineering entity operating under the Ministry of Defence. It is in charge of the enforcement of environmental laws.
- The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is an independent government agency that was founded in 1970. Its mission is to ensure the protection of nature and the health of citizens thanks to legislation in these areas.

Two laws are underway in this area:
- Section 404 of the "Clear Water Act" legislates on sustainable forestry operations. It was unfortunately not applied by the "Corps" at first because the EPA was debating on whether or not these operations could be considered to be sustainable forestry, although it was clear that the marshes could not regenerate themselves naturally.
- Section 10 of the "Rivers and Harbors Act" legislates on marshes that fall short of the standard water level. The law was not called into question, but the "Corps" staff was clearly inadequate to enforce it.

In 2000: large-scale industrial activity started to set in. At that time, the Basinkeepers helped the "Corps" to enforce Section 10. But industrial players responded by attempting, through political manipulation via Senator Vitter, to repeal Section 10 so that their operations would finally become legal.

2000-2005: Dean's priority was to enforce Section 10 and to prevent it from become subject to an amendment. In 2005, thanks to support from senators Clinton, Lieberman, Boxer, Jeffords, Carper, and Chafee, the amendment was defeated. Furthermore, in parallel, Basinkeeper organised a coalition which sought to convince the EPA that these tree farms had nothing to do with forestry. During the year 2005, the EPA finally ruled on the matter, and section 404 rendered these tree farms illegal as well.

2005: the law was eventually proclaimed clearly. Retailers nevertheless still had to be convinced to not sell cypress mulch from Louisiana. But in the absence of a tracking system, this remained a difficult task. Dean launched into a monitoring and aerial surveillance campaign to uncover the origins of the mulch.

2006: with concrete evidence at hand, some large distributors such as "Lowe's", "Home Depot" and, later on, Walmart, stopped selling these products.

2007: the selling of mulch finally decreased. Less supply by distributors and - especially - less demand thanks to the education of the population.

2008: the cutting down of the trees finally ended.

February 2009: inventories are gone, the tree-cutting factories shut down.

Conclusion: in 6 years, 1/10 of the cypress forest was destroyed at a rate sometimes reaching 80 km2/year. All of this for an annual profit of $3.3 million, while the ecosystem contributes nearly $6.6 million in services to society.

To know more, see the documentary film "SoLa: Louisiana water stories" by Jon Bowermaster.

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Dean Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper founder, interviewed by Un an pour la Planète.

Dean controling oil facilities in Atchafalaka basin.

Atchafalaya basin.

Tree surrounded by water in Atchafalaya basin.

Oil facility overflooded put Atchafalaya basin at risk.