Public
Says State Should Buy Elmer's Island
Posted:
12/2/03
The votes
have been tallied, and the public has spoken - or at least
they've responded to a survey to say the state of Louisiana
should buy Elmer's Island and keep it relatively primitive.
That's
the gist of a report released Tuesday (Dec. 2) by two LSU
AgCenter researchers who conducted an Internet survey to find
out what people would like to see done with Elmer's Island,
a 1,700-acre parcel of land directly across from the bridge
to Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish.
The land,
which is one of only three Louisiana beachfronts accessible
by car, is on the market. Dr. Rex Caffey and Dr. Krishna Paudel
of the LSU AgCenter's Department of Agricultural Economics
and Agribusiness used a grant from the Louisiana Sea Grant
College Program to measure public attitudes regarding Elmer's
Island.
"We
saw 96 percent in favor of state purchase - both online and
in intercept surveys," Caffey said. "It's really
amazing. It indicates strong, strong public support."
The survey
results show people want a state park or a wildlife management
area. "The preference for development is very low,"
Caffey stressed. People want improved roads, restroom facilities
and a waste station - but not much more. The public response
is consistent with the way the area had been managed in the
past.
"People
want access with limited restrictions, but they want enforcement
of rules and regulations," Caffey said. "Pollution
and litter concerns were huge in the survey."
Elmer's
Island contains beachfront and wetlands, with marshes and
dunes that provide habitat for fish and birds. It was owned
by Jay Elmer, who, for fees, allowed public access to the
area for camping, surf fishing, birding, crabbing, beachcombing,
swimming and other activities for more than 30 years. It has
been closed for more than a year.
As a result
of Elmer's death and the subsequent offering of the property
for sale, several legislators introduced a concurrent resolution
last spring in the Louisiana House of Representatives asking
the governor and the commissioner of administration to take
steps to enable the state to purchase Elmer'sIsland. The resolution
was approved by both houses of the Louisiana Legislature and
was signed by the president of the senate and speaker of the
house on May 21.
At the
same time, a grassroots movement emerged to push for state
ownership of the area.
Caffey
and Paudel put a survey on the Internet on May 15 and collected
2,493 responses in less than 12 weeks. The surveyors also
conducted 203 face-to-face interviews with visitors to Grand
Isle State Park to verify the accuracy of the results. The
answers in the interviews were consistent with the online
answers, Caffey said.
Most people
participating in the survey live two to three hours away -
with more than 60 percent of the respondents from the Baton
Rouge or New Orleans areas. According to Caffey, 87 percent
of the respondents were familiar with Elmer's Island and 75
percent had been there. About one-third of those who visited
had been there more than 25 times. Ninety-six percent of the
respondents said they think Elmer's Island should be in state
hands, and 98 percent said they'd visit if it were.
Elmer's
Island is only a few miles from Grand Isle State Park, which
gets an average of more than 100,000 visitors a year, Caffey
said. But Elmer's Island is a much larger area. He estimated
that 40,000 to 50,000 people would visit Elmer's Island each
year and generate between $200,000 and $300,000 in fees.
"People,
on average, said they'd pay $5 per person per day," Caffey
said. "The average maximum was about $10."
Concerning
the value of the island, Caffey calculated a wide range of
possibilities using a business property appraisal model.
"Given
realistic assumptions about fees and costs, I would say that
this range is between $1.9 million and $2.8 million,"
he said. "This could supplement the original offer of
$1 million the state made earlier this year."
Caffey
said the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has
bonding authority that could be used to purchase the land,
but it doesn't have the authority to charge fees for lands
it owns and manages. That situation could be changed by an
act of the legislature.
The economist
estimated total economic activity associated with reopening
Elmer’s Island would range between $3.7 million and
$7.4 million. Although some people may argue that tourist
expenditures once associated with Elmer's Island are now being
spent elsewhere in Louisiana and that the state wouldn't be
losing tourism dollars if it doesn't purchase the property.
Caffey disagrees.
"Clearly,
some of that economic activity has been lost," he said.
"But there are few close substitutes for Elmer's Island
in Louisiana." Caffey believes a minimum of 20 percent
of the economic activity he projects as a result of state
ownership of Elmer's Island would be money that people would
otherwise spend somewhere else - probably Mississippi or Texas.
"Approximately
$750,000 in direct tourism expenditures or $1.5 million in
total economic activity is being lost each year that Elmer's
Island remains closed to the public," he said.
The survey
data are being used by the Division of Administration as it
develops a proposal, which will likely be acted on by the
outgoing Foster administration or by Gov.-elect Kathleen Blanco.
The entire
report is available on the Internet at http://www.agecon.lsu.edu/CNREP/ElmersIsland.pdf
Contact:
Rex Caffey at (225) 578-2266 or rcaffey@agcenter.lsu.edu
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