AROUND-TOWN

State's new heritage trail highlights local wetlands

Holly Duchmann Staff Writer
The Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge in the Bayou Black area includes a boardwalk and nature trail through some of Terrebonne's marshes and swamps. It's part of the state's new Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail. [Louisiana Economic Development]

A new heritage trail has been launched in south Louisiana and includes two spots in Terrebonne Parish to help tell the story of the state’s relationship with the water.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser launched the Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail in October, a self-guided driving tour that illustrates how water became and remains a distinctive influence on life and landscapes of the 14-parish Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, which includes Terrebonne.

“The Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail is essential to our uniquely Louisiana story,”  Nungesser said. “Water has always been essential to our culture and heritage, and this trail showcases this story.”

Joey Pierce, communications manager for Houma Travel, said the water trail was a great way to highlight some of the 2,500 square miles of bayous, swamps and marshland in the area.

“The Atchafalaya Basin is a very productive waterway, and, ultimately, quite a lot of our culture developed out of that waterway,” Pierce said. “This is an interesting way to connect places such as Assumption Parish or St. Martin all the way down to Terrebonne Parish as well.”

In Terrebonne, the trail highlights the Terrebonne Basin at the Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge Nature Trail, in the Bayou Black area about five miles south of Houma. The nature trail is an estimated mile.

It also highlights Bayou Little Caillou at the Marguerite Moffett Audubon Sanctuary, a 108-acre wildlife sanctuary in Chauvin. At the sanctuary, guests can walk a 700-foot boardwalk through marsh and observe Lake Quitman.

“One of the goals of the Atchafalaya Trace Commission is not only to educate the public about how the Atchafalaya and various connected waterways have and will continue to influence our way of life -- but also to navigate Louisianians and out-of-state visitors throughout the 14 parishes,” said Carrie Stansbury, commission chairwoman.

To view the trail online, visit waterheritage.atchafalaya.org.

-- Staff Writer Holly Duchmann can be reached at 857-2205 or holly.duchmann@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @holly_evamarie.