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Regular Session, 2014 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 159
BY SENATOR CROWE
A RESOLUTION
To create and provide for the Lower Pearl River Basin Ecosystem Study Commission to
study the conditions, needs, issues, and funding relative to the protection and
preservation of the Lower Pearl River Basin and to recommend any action or
legislation that the commission deems necessary or appropriate.
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana has been endowed with natural beauty that draws
countless sportsmen and tourists every year and should expend the necessary resources to
preserve its most important sanctuaries; and
WHEREAS, the Lower Pearl River Basin is located in east-central and southwest
Mississippi and in the southeastern part of Louisiana, and drains an area of seven hundred
sixty square miles; and
WHEREAS, the basin contains one of the least-altered and pristine swamps in the
United States of America, covering an area of over seventy thousand acres, and supports
nearly one hundred and forty types of fish and forty species of freshwater mussels, making
it one of the most species-rich river systems in the world; and
WHEREAS, in an effort to preserve this valued and treasured ecosystem, a
comprehensive plan should be created and instituted that will provide the financial, political,
and scientific resources necessary to keep the Lower Pearl River Basin ecosystem in its
pristine and natural state and should be based on the latest scientific, biological,
hydrological, and geological data; and
WHEREAS, the protection and use of this important resource will depend on such
a comprehensive plan.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby create the Lower Pearl River Basin Ecosystem Study Commission to study and
make recommendations to the legislature and federal agencies on the development of a long-
term comprehensive master plan to protect and preserve the Lower Pearl River Basin
ecosystem. SR NO. 159 ENROLLED
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission created shall consist of the
following sixteen members:
(1)Two members of the Senate appointed by the president, or their designees,
one of whom shall serve as chairperson.
(2)Two members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the speaker or
their designees.
(3)The secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, or his designee.
(4)The secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, or his designee.
(5)The secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, or her designee.
(6)The president of Washington Parish, or his designee.
(7)The president of St. Tammany Parish, or his designee.
(8)Four residents of St. Tammany Parish, appointed by the legislators
representing that parish.
(9)Three residents of Washington Parish, appointed by the legislators
representing that parish.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such study should focus on the area of
protection, the creation of an authority to manage the protection area, financing for the
authority, long-term projects for the preservation and maintenance of the protection area, and
any future needs of the protection area.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the commission shall serve
without compensation, except per diem or expenses reimbursement to which they may be
individually entitled as members of their respective constituent organization.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission may conduct such meetings at
such times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and
effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this
Resolution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in the event the commission makes a report of
its findings and recommendations, with suggestions for proposed legislation, if any, such
report shall be made to the legislature no later than sixty days prior to the convening of the
2015 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. SR NO. 159 ENROLLED
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this commission shall terminate on April 13,
2015.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE