Samuel Nunez: I am not going to disagree with you, but I will simply point out that these 

 current efforts represent what we can realistically gain legislative approval for. If, 

 as was indicated earlier, canals account for 50% of the land loss, we are trying to 

 address the other 50%. The Legislature will eventually address the issue of canals, 

 but if we prohibited them today we would run into difficulties related to concern 

 about energy shortages. Rather than going forward, I am concerned we would go 

 backward. 



Linda Deegan: The approaches to backfilling Mr. Voisin mentioned constitute a 

 constructive proposal to deal with the issue of canals. This is the type of positive 

 approach which could be included in the Legislature's recommendtions. 



Samuel Nunez: Perhaps backfilling should hove been a condition for permitting 50 years 

 ago. I agree we have to address the canal problem. I have addressed the pipline 

 problem by passage of an act for which the funding was vetoed. This program could 

 help address the canal issue. 



Lee Black: It is probably too late to amend the report prior to the Special Session three 

 weeks away. Therefore we should support the plan and develop efforts for other 

 projects for subsequent legislative sessions. 



Kai Midboe: The Enhanced Mineral Trust Fund has probably been spent 100 times over, so 

 a concerted effort is required to obtain these funds for coastal erosion. 



Samuel Nunez: There is no better way to spend funds generated from mineral extraction 

 in coastal Louisiana than to use them to protect the area from which they come, if 

 the extraction is acknowledged to be part of the cause of the problems. The oil 

 industry is important to Louisiana and generates 30% to 40% of State revenues and 

 provides much employment. As a legislator I must balance all these benefits and 

 detriments. 



Len Bahr: Most issues have two sides, an environmental cost and an economic cost. 

 Quantifying the environmental cost is a prime area of research. There are exciting 

 new techniques for placing a dollar cost on environmental effects. When the 

 environmental costs of dredging a canal can be expressed in dollars, then political 

 and regulatory decisions will become clearer. 



Sherwood Gogliano: Senator Nunez said that the Legislature's program is a start. It is 

 more than that. It is a turning point. The coastal zone management plan was an 

 important first step, but this is the second step in which we are making a 

 commitment to manage renewable resources based on substantial funding. The 

 program is a package of approaches which we can start implementing and 

 monitoring. Clearly not everything will work, but we will never know until we try. 

 At the present rates of deterioration we can not afford to wait any longer. 



Peter Hawxhurst: The efforts to implement programs and publicize the coastal erosion 

 problem are necessary to generate the grass roots support needed to attract State 

 and Federal funding. 



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