INDExtra

Overlooking southwest Louisiana

by Leslie Turk

Sen. Dan "Blade" Morrish, R-Jennings, doesn't want his region playing second fiddle anymore in the state's developing coastal protection plans. Sen. Dan "Blade" Morrish, R-Jennings, doesn't want his region playing second fiddle anymore in the state's developing coastal protection plans. That's why he's pushing legislation this session to give southwest Louisiana an authoritative voice it's never had.

"Southwest Louisiana has traditionally never gotten a whole lot of coastal restoration money," he says. "And one reason for that is we never had levee districts in southwest Louisiana to maintain projects that come from the feds."

Morrish's Senate Bill 693 would change that by creating the Chenier Plain Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority. It would cover the parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion. The governor would be charged with appointing 15 members and the Senate would have to ratify the choices, just like other levee boards.

The bill is now pending action in the Senate.