According to state Mineral Board secretary Gus Rodemacher, April's lease sale of $17,062,854 marked a record high. There were 182 tracts nominated this month, which constitutes the largest sale since September 1981 when the amount was $27,815,577, reported Rodemacher.

Washington D.C.—Secretary Jack Caldwell of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources testified this week before the United States House Resources Committee on behalf of a bill that would help fund the state's efforts to save its vanishing coastline.

Gov. M.J. “Mike” Foster recently appointed Ernest S. Easterly, III, a Southern University law professor, to the State Mineral Board. Easterly joined the ten-member board during its March mineral lease sale meeting.

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle and South Lafourche Levee District Director Windell Curole addressed the annual conference of the Floodplain Management Association this week in Nevada. The pair also met with California’s Department of Water Resources officials in Sacramento, who helped coordinate the conference.

Secretary Jack Caldwell of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) addressed a group of local coastal program managers from Calcasieu, Cameron, Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Mary, St. Bernard, St. James, and Plaquemines parishes this week. Representatives from these coastal areas and DNR officials, along with Secretary Caldwell met to exchange and discuss information about their local programs.

The State Mineral Board will hold a special meeting in February to focus on the current oil industry's crisis and its impact in Louisiana. The meeting is scheduled to follow the next regular Mineral Board meeting in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, February 10 at 1:30 pm.

Putting their best foot forward in an effort to secure $14 billion to pay for the ravishes of coastal erosion, Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jack Caldwell and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Thomas Julich signed an agreement to begin a coast wide feasibility study for the Coast 2050 Plan.

Coastal restoration work on two large, multi-million dollar projects in Jefferson Parish is expected to begin next month, announced state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials. The projects are at the mouth of Barataria Bay and will aid in preserving a historical landmark, stopping gulf shoreline erosion, and protecting marine fisheries and habitat.

The recently formed Governor's Comprehensive Energy Policy Advisory Commission plans to hold meetings in June, July, and August. At some point thereafter, the 24-member group will present their findings to Governor Foster and state legislators.

In a recent letter to Mineral Management Service's (MMS) regional director, Governor M. J. "Mike" Foster, Jr. has asked the federal government to reevaluate the impact of the proposed sale of offshore leases (169, 172, 175, 178, 182) and its significance to the Louisiana Gulf Coast region. The U.S. Department of Interior's MMS manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the OCS, and collects, accounts for, and disburses revenues from federal offshore leases.

The end of the fiscal year mineral lease sales totals climbed above $50 million this June, reported Mineral Board secretary Gus Rodemacher. In spite of falling oil and gas prices, the state's mineral leasing program moved above anticipated levels due to advanced technology and the use of 3-D seismic, Rodemacher said. The June lease sale data showed a 140 percent increase in original projections for the FY 1997/98, surpassing the state's anticipated income from this revenue source.

The state’s Office of Conservation has issued a final order today declaring portions of the Sparta Aquifer in north Louisiana to be critical ground water areas. The Commissioner of Conservation has made certain determinations and has spelled out the conditions to be followed as required by state law. Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh said the order does not mandate any current restrictions on new or existing water wells.