Parties settle in Maurepas Basin tree dispute

The Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper (LMRK) and Atchafalaya Basinkeeper (ABK) have jointly reached a settlement with Tennessee businessman Calvin Howell for illegally logging Louisiana’s bald cypress trees in the Maurepas Basin, sending the clear message that illegal loggers can and will be prosecuted.
Howell will contribute $33,000 to Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) to exclusively fund the Manchac/Maurepas Bald Cypress Restoration Project, according to a consent judgment in U.S. District Court. The funds will be used to establish an estimated 3,000 “nutria-proofed” cypress saplings in the basin.
Howell owned a tract of land north of the Laurel Ridge Levee in Ascension Parish.
ABK Executive Director Dean Wilson called the decision “a much-needed victory toward preserving Louisiana’s iconic cypress tree in South Louisiana.” Wilson also said he hopes the judgment will serve as a deterrent on illegal logging in Louisiana.
ABK and LMRK exposed illegal clear cutting of hundreds of acres of cypress trees in Coastal Louisiana wetlands in 2005 and 2006. ABK and LMRK jointly monitor for illegal logging operations in coastal Louisiana, including using SouthWings for aerial inspections. Aerial photographs taken in December of 2006 revealed Howell had cut the trees without a permit. They and were presented to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, which issued Howell a cease and desist order nearly a year after the violation was reported. The fact that no fines or restoration orders were issued by the government encourage more illegal logging and prompted LMRK and ABK to take legal action.
LMRK Executive Paul Orr said, “When you look at the benefits of healthy cypress swamps - like reducing storm impacts, providing habitat for fish and game, and opportunities for tourism, bird watching and water sports - Louisiana's bald cypress trees are worth far more standing in the swamp than being cut. Once most of these swamps are cut the cypress are gone for good.”
Wilson adds, “Howell cut trees that were likely more than 100 years old in an area that won’t regenerate and the illegal roads devastated the hydrology of the area, affecting other landowners. The clear-cut also invited invasive species, seriously affecting the ecology of the area.”
Louisiana coastal forests under constant threat from salt water intrusion and logging with the latest fight over logging cypress trees to reduce to them to garden mulch or fuel pellets to produce energy in other countries including England and Germany.