David Gauthé had to be careful casting his fishing line when he was young. At his favorite fishing spot, Bayou Go-to-Hell, if he cast too far, the line would hit the other bank. Today, the other side is farther away because of coastal erosion. According to Gauthé, Louisiana loses “one football field of land every 38 minutes.” He describes it as “a little from here, a little from there.”

Gauthé was born in the small town of Napoleanville, Louisiana, 15 miles North of Thibodeaux (pronounced tib-uh-doh) where he now lives. In Thibodeaux, he met his wife of 41 years, Sharon, and they raised their family. Sharon is the director of Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing and has been for 15 years. Gauthé is on staff because “my wife made me,” he laughs.

Started in 1994, BISCO acts as a voice for the people of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes. “This area has not been taken care of for 60 years by politicians”, says Gauthé.

Maps at research centers, such as Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, show the results of coastal erosion over the past 100 years. The  difference is shocking, with much of what appears on a school map of Louisiana missing. According to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the state has lost 1,829 square miles of land since 1930. This trend continues to grow in 2003 scientists projected a loss of 500 square miles in the next 50 years. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made open water of 198 square miles of marsh.

Natural barrier islands and coastal wetlands formed protection from inland flooding and erosion from hurricanes. According to the Gulf Restoration Network, storm surge is estimated to lower by one foot for every three to four miles of coastal wetlands it encounters. Less storm surge from hurricanes means less water bombarding cities like New Orleans.

Coastal erosion happens naturally, with the course of the Mississippi River changing directions over time. However, humans have made this worse. The wetlands look like an old cutting board with thousands of cuts. These are canals dug and dredged to create faster shipping channels like the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

The oil and gas industry is responsible for an 8,000 mile-long series of canals which have yet to be refilled according to GRN.

One solution Gauthé is working on with BISCO is the building of levees. “It’ll eventually fill up, its gonna, you know, be solid land. Normally when you build a levee like this, where ever you build it, it’s a solid stretch of land.”  Gauthé said of a newly built levee.

The federal government promised more levees. “We’ve being working on this concept for 40 years… And they still haven’t approved it,” says Gauthé, “They gave us permission to build this segment of it as long as we used our money. Not a penny of federal dollars has come to this area for this right here.” The community raised $30 million to build a seven mile stretch of levee, only a fraction of what was needed.

This is not the only way Louisiana is undermined. Gauthé says that the state water limits extend ten miles from the coast in most states, but only three in Louisiana.
He says from the royalties from oil companies drilling, 37% goes to the rest of the United States but Louisiana will only be getting 20% in 2017.

“It just really gets people mad when they even think of the federal government being [the] source that can help you out the most,” says Gauthé. This is why Gauthé is so involved with BISCO. “The power is allowing people who don’t have a voice to be leaders,” he says. “We’re all organizers doing the same thing Obama did.”

Gauthé leaves one lasting piece of advice, “Get to know your politicians if you don’t like them, get their ass out.”