**** Fourchon Public Beach Blocked ****
** Public Access Blocked**
This is where A.O.Rappelet Road meets the beach and you could turn left and drive East for 7 miles. (open for the dozen years on the only high ground spot with a major public access road leading to it) You could also turn right at the above intersection and drive 2 miles west to the rock jetties where Bayou Lafourche becomes Belle Pass at the Gulf of Mexico. Both directions have been blocked as of today. There is an old dirt back road on the right approaching the beach that follows part of the original old bayou lafourche that you can still use to access the 2 miles of beach to the west.
I was standing in the open sand area in the photo above this morning when a young security guard for Caillouet Land Company threatened me and told me to leave immediately I was on private property.
In 1990 I was standing in the exact same spot on the fresh still damp publicly restored beach, on a new high public road surrounded with mounds of new sand. We, and thousands of others have used it weekly for years.
Now, this publicly funded, pumped in high ground, concrete seawall and sunken offshore rock filled breakwater barge protected piece of real estate is the private property of the Caillouet Land Company.
The caillouet land company blocking and destroying your 10 year old vehicle public access road.
We waited from 10am till 11am this morning to leave VIA this public bridge that leads to the Caillouet Beach Real Estate, it is being repaired by a Company in Lafayette, La. that won the 1/2 million dollar public contract for the job.
Letter From Senator Mike Robichaux
Dear Mr. Bertaut
As I am sure you are aware, many visitors to your website have been contacting my office via fax, email and telephone regarding the situation at Fourchon Public Beach. I, too, like many others, am very distressed by the current situation and have done everything possible to remedy the problem. During the most recent legislative session, at the request of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, I introduced a bill that would have given the commission the authority to create a beachfront development district. This would have allowed the Port Commission, in effect, to assume duties relative to the recreational aspects of the port facility and beach area. At the present time the commission's authority does not include these recreational areas.
The bill was advertised in the local newspaper, as required by law for a local bill. The measure passed the Senate with no difficulty. During this time, the Port Commission tried to negotiate a solution to the problem with the commercial landowners, but met with little success. The House Transportation committee, due to massive lobbying by a landowners association never scheduled the bill I introduced for hearing, and some misinformation about the bill's intent. During this time, I arranged a meeting with representatives of the Port Commission, the landowners, and the landowners association. In spite of this effort to reach some sort of compromise, it became clear that there remains a good deal of ill will between the parties. Although I had offered to arrange a follow-up meeting, no one has yet accepted this offer.
At this point in time, due to the nature of the legislative calendar, any decision to allow the Port Commission to create a beachfront development district would be in the hands of the Lafourche Parish Council. A resolution to grant that authority to the Port Commission was presented to the Lafourche Parish Council at a Public Works Committee Meeting. The resolution passed the committee unanimously. However, when the resolution was presented to the entire council in June, on a motion by Councilman Robert Naquin, seconded by Mr. Daniel Lorraine it was removed from consideration. So, it appears that the situation will remain unresolved for the time being, unless an agreement can be reached by all interested parties. Please feel free to direct any inquiries to the Lafourche Parish Council at 504-446-8427, or to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission at 504-632-6701. When allowed by the legislative calendar, I will be happy to be of assistance in any way if requested to do so by the Port Commission or the Lafourche Parish Council.
Sincerely Yours,
Michael R. Robichaux, M.D.
State Senator, District 20
How to get to the remaining 2 miles of free public beach access! Click Here!
More Beach Access Information: Click Here!
More Beach Reclamation Information and Photos! Click Here!
Visitors on 7 mile closed east end of Fourchon Public Beach!