Bayou Teche now a National Water Trail

The 135 miles of meandering water that is the Bayou Teche became the 17th trail of the National Water Trails System Wednesday.
The designation by the National Park Service recognized the achievements of federal, state and local partners, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in a news release.
“Expanding water trails nationwide improves the environment and adds value to local economies,” Jewell said. “The National Water Trail System helps people discover the natural beauty and history of local places and provides fun opportunities for families to explore the world around them.”
The 135-mile long Bayou Teche Paddle Trail winds through four parishes and 13 towns — from Port Barre to Berwick — along a historically and culturally significant bayou. The trail promotes the natural beauty of south Louisiana and integrates the history of the people and the land while providing access for paddlers of all abilities.
Conni Castille, executive director of the TECHE Project, which began in 2009 to restore the waterway, said the designation makes the bayou part of an elite group.
“It’s a prestigious recognition. A lot of people pay attention to that,” she said. Eco-tourists view the designation by the government as a guide to experiencing the United States by water, Castille added.
The National Water Trail System is a network of national exemplary water trails that can be sustained by an ever-growing water trail community. Water trails are catalysts for protecting and restoring the health of local waterways and surrounding lands. They also provide a connection for current and future generations to the nature, history and adventure that can be found on the water.
The bayou was selected after “a pretty intensive” application process that Project TECHE initiated on behalf of the communities served by the waterway, she said.
She hopes the designation will become an “economic driver for low-impact recreation,” and help businesses along its path who will serve locals and tourists alike when they experience the bayous.
Bayou Teche remains under the jurisdiction of The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries that regulates many activities on state waters, including Bayou Teche. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue to regulate all structures in navigable waters (within channel banks) and all earth moving activities in wetlands adjacent to the bank of Bayou Teche. Towns and parishes own and/or will continue to manage all publicly accessible parks where access points and trailheads for the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail are located, according to the Project TECHE website.
Bayou Teche joins the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, Waccamaw River in South Carolina, Alabama River in Alabama, among others throughout the nation in its designation. The Huron River Water Trail in Michigan was the 18th waterway designated. It, too, was announced Wednesday.