ENROLLED
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Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 49
BY REPRESENTATIVES ORTEGO, BARRAS, CHAMPAGNE, HUVAL, JONES,
TERRY LANDRY, AND LEBAS AND SENATORS ALLAIN, CHABERT, LONG,
MORRELL, AND MORRISH
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to study Bayou Teche for
possible inclusion into the Historic and Scenic Rivers program.
WHEREAS, Bayou Teche is a one-hundred-thirty-five mile long waterway of great
cultural and historic significance in south central Louisiana where it was the main course of
the Mississippi River at one time and where the river caused a delta to develop sometime
between three thousand and five thousand years ago; and
WHEREAS, Bayou Teche begins in Port Barre as it draws water from Bayou
Courtableau and then flows southward to meet the Lower Atchafalaya River near Morgan
City, flowing through the parishes of St. Landry, St. Martin, Iberia, and St. Mary; and
WHEREAS, the name "Teche" is a Chitimacha Indian word meaning "snake", which
aptly describes the bayou's twists and turns which resemble a snake's movement as the water
flows towards the Gulf of Mexico; and
WHEREAS, Bayou Teche was the primary waterway that brought exiled Acadians
from present day Nova Scotia to South Louisiana, was a focus of conflict during the
American Civil War, and up until construction of the levees along the Atchafalaya River in
the 1930's, served as an important route of commerce in southeast Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Bayou Teche has served as a vital link between thriving communities
of south central Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico, a link that has been used by everyone
from Native Americans and French explorers to nineteenth century steamboat captains and
twentieth century loggers and fishermen and was a major waterway through much of south
central Louisiana's history; and
WHEREAS, inclusion in the Louisiana Historic and Scenic Rivers system would
greatly increase acknowledgment of Bayou Teche for its historic and cultural value and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 49
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would help to increase recreation and tourism on the bayou and in communities along the
bayou.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to study Bayou Teche for possible
inclusion into the Historic and Scenic Rivers program.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE