50 years. For 50 years the Sierra Club Delta Chapter has fought to protect and explore the wild places of Louisiana. Well, nearly 50. In 2019, the Delta Chapter will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary. We’ve done a lot in 50 years of the Delta Chapter: outings, advocacy, litigation, education. Forming friendships, trying out amateur photography, muddying boots, getting frustrated with our legislature and courts. At the heart of the Sierra Club are these experiences, these tangible contacts with nature that drive our passion to use our land wisely. A Delta Chapter member shared with me recently one such experience.
Carl Helwig responded to last month’s e-newsletter in which I detailed the lawsuit the Delta Chapter and other environmental groups filed to try and halt construction of the destructive Bayou Bridge pipeline through the delicate Atchafalaya Basin. With his permission, I share his words with you.
Julie,
Of all the places I've been there was no greater experience when years ago my wife Jeanne and I launched our cabin boat at the southern end of the Atchafalaya basin and went North West into the swamp. We both are from New York and had moved to Metairie as I was employed in the Commercial Diving business in support of the Offshore Oil Industry. We have both visited various Zoos, including the Bronx Zoo in NY.
Going into the Atchafalaya Swamp that day was as though we had entered into a Zoo World. We parked our boat and began to observe so many animals/ birds it was astounding! They carried out their activities as though we were not there. I just spoke to my wife (now 85) and asked if she remembers that activity. She said: "Do you remember the huge owl that sat in the tree above us?" I didn't but I remembered the alligator on a log not far away and the family of Nutria moving about.
Can you imagine a pipeline going through this area and having a break? Every living thing would be destroyed.
The thought haunts me.
Regards,
Carl Helwig
The thought haunts us, too. I was recently interviewed by a reporter who moved to Louisiana from Pennsylvania. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why? Why do you guys in Louisiana let this happen to your state? I’ve never seen anything like the Atchfalaya Basin, that just doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Why would you allow something like this pipeline to be built?”
I didn’t have a great answer. Jobs? Oil and gas lobbyists?
Probably a better answer is that a change is needed in our collective consciousness regarding the value of our natural world. More people need to get into the basin, into our wild places, to see the alligators, hear the owls, feel the soft moss - see the images of destruction caused by oil and gas spills.
The Sierra Club can help with that. I want to thank you for being a part of this 125-year-old organization, and encourage you to keep up the fight, stay outdoors, and support the continued good work of our Delta Chapter.
Julie Rosenzweig
Delta Chapter Director