[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 7 (Monday, January 31, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S649-S652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself and Mr. Vitter):
  S. 204. A bill to establish the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area in 
the State of Louisiana; to the Committeee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today I rise, along with Senator Vitter, 
to introduce a bill to establish the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area 
in Louisiana. This legislation has particularly special meaning to 
those of us from Louisiana because of the importance of the cultural 
and natural resources of the Atchafalaya region to the Nation. It would 
establish a framework to help protect, conserve, and promote these 
unique natural, cultural, historical, and recreational resources of the 
region.
  This legislation, which has been passed by the full Senate 3 times, 
once during the 107th Congress and twice during the 108th Congress, 
would establish a framework to help protect, conserve, and promote 
these unique natural, cultural, historical, and recreational resources 
of the region.
  Specifically, the legislation would establish a National Heritage 
Area in Louisiana that encompasses thirteen parishes in and around the 
Atchafalaya Basin swamp, America's largest river swamp. The heritage 
area in south-central Louisiana stretches from Concordia parish to the 
north, where the Mississippi River begins to partially flow into the 
Atchafalaya River, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The 
thirteen parishes are: St. Mary, Iberia, St. Martin, St. Landry, 
Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee, Iberville, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafayette, 
West Baton Rouge, Concordia, and East Baton Rouge. This boundary is the 
same area covered by the existing Atchafalaya Trace State Heritage 
Area.
  This measure will appoint the existing Atchafalaya Trace Commission 
as the federally recognized ``local coordinating entity.'' The 
commission is composed of thirteen members with one representative 
appointed by each parish in the heritage area. Both the Atchafalaya 
Trace Commission and the Atchafalaya Trace State Heritage Area were 
created by the Louisiana Legislature a number of years ago. The 
Atchafalaya Trace State Heritage Area program currently receives some 
State funding, and already has staff working at the Louisiana 
Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, DCRT, under Lieutenant 
Governor Kathleen Blanco. State funds were used to create

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the management plan for the heritage area, which followed ``feasibility 
analysis'' guidelines as recommended by the National Park Service. 
Therefore, the recently-completed management plan need only be 
submitted to the Secretary of the Interior for approval as this 
legislation would recognize an existing local coordinating entity that 
will oversee the implementation of this plan. We are very proud that 
this state heritage area has already completed the complicated planning 
process, with participation of local National Park Service 
representatives, while using a standard of planning quality equal to 
that of existing national heritage areas. All at no cost to the Federal 
Government.
  Please let me also emphasize that this legislation protects existing 
private property rights. It will not interfere with local land use 
ordinances or regulations, as it is specifically prohibited from doing 
so. Nor does this legislation grant any powers of real property 
acquisition to the local coordinating entity or heritage area program. 
In addition, the legislation does not impose any environmental rule or 
process or cause any change in Federal environmental quality standards 
different from those already in effect.
  Heritage areas are based on cooperation and collaboration at all 
levels. This legislation remains true to the core concept behind 
heritage areas. The heritage area concept has been used successfully in 
various parts of our Nation to promote historic preservation, natural 
and cultural resource protection, heritage tourism and sustainable 
economic revitalization for both urban and rural areas. Heritage areas 
provide a flexible framework for government agencies, private 
organizations and businesses and landowners to work together on a 
coordinated regional basis. The Atchafalaya National Heritage Area will 
join the Cane River National Heritage Area to become the second 
National Heritage Area in Louisiana, ultimately joining the 23 existing 
National Heritage Areas around the Nation.
  The initiative to develop the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area is 
an outgrowth of a grassroots effort to achieve multiple goals of this 
region. Most important among these is providing opportunities for the 
future, while at the same time not losing anything that makes this 
place so special. Residents from all over the region, local tourism 
agencies, State agencies such as the DCRT and the Department of Natural 
Resources, the State legislature, Federal agencies including the 
National Park Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, parish 
governments, conservation and preservation groups, local businesses and 
local landowners have all participated in this endeavor to make it the 
strong initiative it is today. These groups have been very supportive 
of the heritage area effort, and as time moves on, the heritage area 
will continue to involve more and more of the area's most important 
resource, its people.
  I would also like to give you a brief overview of the resources that 
make this place significant to the entire country. Not only is it 
important to our Nation's history, but it is also critical to 
understanding America's future. The name of the place itself, 
Atchafalaya, comes from the American Indians and means ``long river.'' 
This name signifies the first settlers of the region, descendants of 
whom still live there today.
  Other words come to mind in describing the Atchafalaya: mysterious, 
dynamic, multi-cultural, enchanting, bountiful, threatened and 
undiscovered. This region is one of the most complex and least 
understood places in Louisiana and the Nation. Yet, the stories of the 
Atchafalaya Heritage Area are emblematic of the broader American 
experience. Here there are opportunities to understand and witness the 
complicated, sometimes harmonious, sometimes adversarial interplay 
between nature and culture. The history of the United States has been 
shaped by the complex dance of its people working with, against, and 
for, nature. Within the Atchafalaya a penchant for adventure, 
adaptation, ingenuity, and exploitation has created a cultural legacy 
unlike anywhere else in the world.
  The heart of the heritage area is the Atchafalaya Basin. It is the 
largest river swamp in the United States, larger than the more widely 
known Everglades or Okefenokee Swamp. The Atchafalaya is characterized 
by a maze of streams, and at one time was thickly forested with old-
growth cypress and tupelo trees. The Basin provides outstanding habitat 
for a remarkably diverse array of wildlife, including the endangered 
American bald eagle and Louisiana black bear. The region's unique 
ecology teems with life. More than 85 species of fish; crustaceans, 
such as crawfish; wildlife, including alligators; an astonishing array 
of well over 200 species of birds, from waterfowl to songbirds; forest-
dwelling mammals such as deer, squirrel, beaver and other commercially 
important furbearers all make their home here. Bottomland hardwood-
dependent bird species breed here in some of the highest densities ever 
recorded in annual North American Breeding Bird Surveys. The Basin also 
forms part of the Mississippi Valley Flyway for migratory waterfowl and 
is a major wintering ground for thousands of these geese and ducks. In 
general, the Atchafalaya Basin has a significant proportion of North 
America's breeding wading birds, such as herons, egrets, ibises, and 
spoonbills. Some of the largest flocks of Wood Storks in North America 
summer here, and the southern part of the Basin has a healthy 
population of Bald Eagles nesting every winter.
  The region's dynamic system of waterways, geology, and massive 
earthen guide levees reveals a landscape that is at once fragile and 
awesome. The geology and natural systems of the Atchafalaya Heritage 
Area have fueled the economy of the region for centuries. For decades 
the harvest of cypress, cotton, sugar cane, crawfish, salt, oil, gas, 
and Spanish moss, have been important sources of income for the 
region's residents. The crawfish industry has been particularly 
important to the lives of Atchafalaya residents and Louisiana has 
become the largest crawfish producer in the United States. Sport 
fishing and other forms of commercial fishing are important here, too, 
but unfortunately, natural resource extraction and a changing 
environment have drastically depleted many of these resources and 
forced residents to find new ways to make a living.
  Over the past century, the Atchafalaya Basin has become a study of 
man's monumental effort to control nature. After the catastrophic 
Mississippi River flood of 1927 left thousands dead and millions 
displaced, the U.S. Congress decreed that the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers should develop an intricate system of levees to protect human 
settlements, particularly New Orleans. Today, the Mississippi River is 
caged within the walls of earthen and concrete levees and manipulated 
with a complex system of locks, barrages and floodgates. The 
Atchafalaya River runs parallel to the Mississippi and through the 
center of the Basin. In times of flooding the river basin serves as the 
key floodway in controlling floodwaters headed for the large population 
centers of Baton Rouge and New Orleans by diverting water from the 
Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. This system was sorely tested 
in 1973 when floodwaters threatened to break through the floodgates and 
permanently divert the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya. However, 
after this massive flood event, new land started forming off the coast. 
These new land formations make up the Atchafalaya Delta, and is the 
only significant area of new land being built in the United States. 
These vast amounts of Mississippi River sediment are also rapidly 
filling in the Basin itself, raising the level of land in certain areas 
of the basin and filling in lakes and waterways. And to demonstrate 
just how complex this ecosystem is, one only needs to realize that just 
to the East of the Delta, Terrebonne parish, also in the heritage area, 
is experiencing some of the most significant coastal land loss in the 
country.
  Over the centuries, the ever-changing natural environment has shaped 
the lives of the people living in the Basin. Residents have profited 
from and been imperiled by nature. The popular cultural identity of the 
region is strongly associated with the Cajuns, descendants of the 
French-speaking Acadians who settled in south Louisiana after being 
deported by the British from Nova Scotia, formerly known as Acadia. 
Twenty-five hundred to three

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thousand exiled Acadians repatriated in Louisiana where they proceeded 
to re-establish their former society. Today, in spite of complex 
social, cultural, and demographic transformations, Cajuns maintain a 
sense of group identity and continue to display a distinctive set of 
cultural expressions nearly 250 years after their exile from Acadia. 
Cajun culture has become increasingly popular outside of Louisiana. 
Culinary specialties adapted from France and Acadia such as etouffee, 
boudin, andouille, crepes, beignets and sauces thickened with roux, 
delight food lovers well beyond Louisiana's borders. Cajun music has 
also ``gone mainstream'' with its blend of French folk songs and 
ballads and instrumental dance music, and more recently popular 
country, rhythm-and-blues, and rock music influences. While the growing 
interest in Cajun culture has raised appreciation for its unique 
traditions, many of the region's residents are concerned about the 
growing commercialization and stereotyping that threatens to diminish 
the authentic Cajun ways of life.

  While the Atchafalaya Heritage Area may be well known for its Cajun 
culture, there is an astonishing array of other cultures within these 
parishes. Outside of New Orleans, the Atchafalaya Heritage Area is the 
most racially and ethnically complex region of Louisiana, and has been 
so for many years. A long legacy of multiculturalism presents 
interesting opportunities to examine how so many distinct cultures have 
survived in relative harmony. There may be interesting lessons to learn 
from here as our Nation becomes increasingly heterogeneous. The 
cultural complexity of this region has created a rich tapestry of 
history and traditions, evidenced by the architecture, music, language, 
food and festivals unlike any place else. Ethnic groups of the 
Atchafalaya include: African-Americans, Black Creoles, Asians, Chinese, 
Filipinos, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Cajuns, Spanish Islenos, Italians, 
Scotch-Irish, and American Indian tribes such as the Attakapa, 
Chitimacha, Coushatta, Houma, Opelousa and Tunica-Biloxi.
  This heritage area has a wealth of existing cultural, historic, 
natural, scenic, recreational and visitor resources on which to build. 
Scenic resources include numerous State Wildlife Management Areas and 
National Wildlife Refuges, as well as ten designated state scenic 
byways that fall partially or entirely within the heritage area. The 
Office of State Parks operates three historic sites in the heritage 
area, and numerous historic districts and buildings can be found in the 
region. There are also nine Main Street communities in the heritage 
area. Outdoor recreational resources include two State Parks and a 
multitude of waterways and bayous. Hunting, fishing, boating, and 
canoeing, and more recently birdwatching and cycling, are popular ways 
to experience the region. Various visitor attractions, interpretive 
centers and visitor information centers exist to help residents and 
tourists alike better understand and navigate many of the resources in 
the heritage area. Major roads link the heritage area's central visitor 
entrance points and large population centers, especially New Orleans. 
Much of the hospitality industry servicing the Atchafalaya exists 
around the larger cities of Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Houma. However, 
more and more bed and breakfasts and heritage accommodations, such as 
houseboat rentals, are becoming more numerous in the smaller towns and 
rural areas.
  These are just some of the examples of the richness and significance 
of this region. This legislation will assist communities throughout 
this heritage area who are committed to the conservation and 
appropriate development of these assets. Furthermore, this legislation 
will bring a level of prestige and national and international 
recognition that this most special of places certainly deserves.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 204

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Atchafalaya National 
     Heritage Area Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Heritage area.--The term ``Heritage Area'' means the 
     Atchafalaya National Heritage Area established by section 
     3(a).
       (2) Local coordinating entity.--The term ``local 
     coordinating entity'' means the local coordinating entity for 
     the Heritage Area designated by section 3(c).
       (3) Management plan.--The term ``management plan'' means 
     the management plan for the Heritage Area developed under 
     section 5.
       (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (5) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of 
     Louisiana.

     SEC. 3. ATCHAFALAYA NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established in the State the 
     Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.
       (b) Boundaries.--The Heritage Area shall consist of the 
     whole of the following parishes in the State: St. Mary, 
     Iberia, St. Martin, St. Landry, Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee, 
     Iberville, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafayette, West Baton 
     Rouge, Concordia, and East Baton Rouge.
       (c) Local Coordinating Entity.--
       (1) In general.--The Atchafalaya Trace Commission shall be 
     the local coordinating entity for the Heritage Area.
       (2) Composition.--The local coordinating entity shall be 
     composed of 13 members appointed by the governing authority 
     of each parish within the Heritage Area.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF THE LOCAL COORDINATING 
                   ENTITY.

       (a) Authorities.--For the purposes of developing and 
     implementing the management plan and otherwise carrying out 
     this Act, the local coordinating entity may--
       (1) make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements 
     with, the State, units of local government, and private 
     organizations;
       (2) hire and compensate staff; and
       (3) enter into contracts for goods and services.
       (b) Duties.--The local coordinating entity shall--
       (1) submit to the Secretary for approval a management plan;
       (2) implement the management plan, including providing 
     assistance to units of government and others in--
       (A) carrying out programs that recognize important resource 
     values within the Heritage Area;
       (B) encouraging sustainable economic development within the 
     Heritage Area;
       (C) establishing and maintaining interpretive sites within 
     the Heritage Area; and
       (D) increasing public awareness of, and appreciation for 
     the natural, historic, and cultural resources of, the 
     Heritage Area;
       (3) adopt bylaws governing the conduct of the local 
     coordinating entity; and
       (4) for any year for which Federal funds are received under 
     this Act, submit to the Secretary a report that describes, 
     for the year--
       (A) the accomplishments of the local coordinating entity; 
     and
       (B) the expenses and income of the local coordinating 
     entity.
       (c) Acquisition of Real Property.--The local coordinating 
     entity shall not use Federal funds received under this Act to 
     acquire real property or an interest in real property.
       (d) Public Meetings.--The local coordinating entity shall 
     conduct public meetings at least quarterly.

     SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

       (a) In General.--The local coordinating entity shall 
     develop a management plan for the Heritage Area that 
     incorporates an integrated and cooperative approach to 
     protect, interpret, and enhance the natural, scenic, 
     cultural, historic, and recreational resources of the 
     Heritage Area.
       (b) Consideration of Other Plans and Actions.--In 
     developing the management plan, the local coordinating entity 
     shall--
       (1) take into consideration State and local plans; and
       (2) invite the participation of residents, public agencies, 
     and private organizations in the Heritage Area.
       (c) Contents.--The management plan shall include--
       (1) an inventory of the resources in the Heritage Area, 
     including--
       (A) a list of property in the Heritage Area that--
       (i) relates to the purposes of the Heritage Area; and
       (ii) should be preserved, restored, managed, or maintained 
     because of the significance of the property; and
       (B) an assessment of cultural landscapes within the 
     Heritage Area;
       (2) provisions for the protection, interpretation, and 
     enjoyment of the resources of the Heritage Area consistent 
     with this Act;
       (3) an interpretation plan for the Heritage Area; and
       (4) a program for implementation of the management plan 
     that includes--
       (A) actions to be carried out by units of government, 
     private organizations, and public-private partnerships to 
     protect the resources of the Heritage Area; and
       (B) the identification of existing and potential sources of 
     funding for implementing the plan.
       (d) Submission to Secretary for Approval.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the local coordinating entity shall 
     submit the

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     management plan to the Secretary for approval.
       (2) Effect of failure to submit.--If a management plan is 
     not submitted to the Secretary by the date specified in 
     paragraph (1), the Secretary shall not provide any additional 
     funding under this Act until a management plan for the 
     Heritage Area is submitted to the Secretary.
       (e) Approval.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after receiving the 
     management plan submitted under subsection (d)(1), the 
     Secretary, in consultation with the State, shall approve or 
     disapprove the management plan.
       (2) Action following disapproval.--
       (A) In general.--If the Secretary disapproves a management 
     plan under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
       (i) advise the local coordinating entity in writing of the 
     reasons for the disapproval;
       (ii) make recommendations for revisions to the management 
     plan; and
       (iii) allow the local coordinating entity to submit to the 
     Secretary revisions to the management plan.
       (B) Deadline for approval of revision.--Not later than 90 
     days after the date on which a revision is submitted under 
     subparagraph (A)(iii), the Secretary shall approve or 
     disapprove the revision.
       (f) Revision.--
       (1) In general.--After approval by the Secretary of a 
     management plan, the local coordinating entity shall 
     periodically--
       (A) review the management plan; and
       (B) submit to the Secretary, for review and approval by the 
     Secretary, the recommendations of the local coordinating 
     entity for any revisions to the management plan that the 
     local coordinating entity considers to be appropriate.
       (2) Expenditure of funds.--No funds made available under 
     this title shall be used to implement any revision proposed 
     by the local coordinating entity under paragraph (1)(B) until 
     the Secretary approves the revision.

     SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS FOR INCLUSION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.

       (a) Notification and Consent of Property Owners Required.--
     No privately owned property shall be preserved, conserved, or 
     promoted by the management plan for the Heritage Area until 
     the owner of that private property has been notified in 
     writing by the management entity and has given written 
     consent to the management entity for such preservation, 
     conservation, or promotion.
       (b) Landowner Withdraw.--Any owner of private property 
     included within the boundary of the Heritage Area shall have 
     that private property immediately removed from the boundary 
     by submitting a written request to the management entity.

     SEC. 7. PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION.

       (a) Access to Private Property.--Nothing in this Act shall 
     be construed to--
       (1) require any private property owner to allow public 
     access (including Federal, State, or local government access) 
     to such private property; or
       (2) modify any provision of Federal, State, or local law 
     with regard to public access to or use of private property.
       (b) Liability.--Designation of the Heritage Area shall not 
     be considered to create any liability, or to have any effect 
     on any liability under any other law, of any private property 
     owner with respect to any persons injured on that private 
     property.
       (c) Participation of Private Property Owners in Heritage 
     Area.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the 
     owner of any private property located within the boundaries 
     of the Heritage Area to participate in or be associated with 
     the Heritage Area.

     SEC. 8. EFFECT OF ACT.

       Nothing in this Act or in establishment of the Heritage 
     Area--
       (1) grants any Federal agency regulatory authority over any 
     interest in the Heritage Area, unless cooperatively agreed on 
     by all involved parties;
       (2) modifies, enlarges, or diminishes any authority of the 
     Federal Government or a State or local government to regulate 
     any use of land as provided for by law (including 
     regulations) in existence on the date of enactment of this 
     Act;
       (3) grants any power of zoning or land use to the local 
     coordinating entity;
       (4) imposes any environmental, occupational, safety, or 
     other rule, standard, or permitting process that is different 
     from those in effect on the date of enactment of this Act 
     that would be applicable had the Heritage Area not been 
     established;
       (5)(A) imposes any change in Federal environmental quality 
     standards; or
       (B) authorizes designation of any portion of the Heritage 
     Area that is subject to part C of title I of the Clean Air 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 7470 et seq.) as class 1 for the purposes of 
     that part solely by reason of the establishment of the 
     Heritage Area;
       (6) authorizes any Federal or State agency to impose more 
     restrictive water use designations, or water quality 
     standards on uses of or discharges to, waters of the United 
     States or waters of the State within or adjacent to the 
     Heritage Area solely by reason of the establishment of the 
     Heritage Area;
       (7) abridges, restricts, or alters any applicable rule, 
     standard, or review procedure for permitting of facilities 
     within or adjacent to the Heritage Area; or
       (8) affects the continuing use and operation, where located 
     on the date of enactment of this Act, of any public utility 
     or common carrier.

     SEC. 9. REPORTS.

       For any year in which Federal funds have been made 
     available under this Act, the local coordinating entity shall 
     submit to the Secretary a report that describes--
       (1) the accomplishments of the local coordinating entity; 
     and
       (2) the expenses and income of the local coordinating 
     entity.

     SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this Act $10,000,000, of which not more than 
     $1,000,000 shall be made available for any fiscal year.
       (b) Cost-Sharing Requirement.--The Federal share of the 
     total cost of any activity assisted under this Act shall be 
     not more than 50 percent.

     SEC. 11. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

       The authority of the Secretary to provide assistance to the 
     local coordinating entity under this Act terminates on the 
     date that is 15 years after the date of enactment of this 
     Act.
                                 ______