All he wanted to do was save the swamp
Milton Cambre has been described as “a man with a mission” in his longtime efforts to preserve LaBranche Wetlands for future generations, but these days he’s frustrated and worried it won’t happen.
“We feel like we’re at a stalemate with way too much bureaucracy,” Cambre said. “We’re not getting it done. The cost is going through the roof. I still don’t understand why we don’t have an advisory committee representing the public.”
The Norco environmentalist is in disbelief over delayed efforts to save St. Charles Parish wetlands and stop coastal erosion along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
“Politics is the only thing I can think of and cost doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s driving me bananas. Here we are years down the road and we still don’t know where we are.”
With his advocacy dating back to the 1960s, Cambre knows firsthand how the area has been changing in ways that warrant help. Raised on the banks of the Mississippi River in Paulina, he grew up with great love and appreciation for river living and its wildlife. After returning from service in the 545th Transportation Detachment of the U.S. Army and going to work in the refining and petrochemical industry in Norco, he saw it change.
When he retired from DuPont in 1985, Cambre dedicated himself to solving these problems, saving the coast and helping to restore and preserve the LaBranche Wetlands, a 20,000-acre cypress swamp that runs between the Jefferson – St. Charles parish line and the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
He worked to raise awareness about LaBranche wetlands’ beauty, but he also tried to generate understanding it stood as the area’s first line of defense against hurricanes, as well as it being an estuary and breeding ground for wildlife. It’s also critical to the productivity of Lake Pontchartrain.
Cambre served as chairman of the St. Charles Parish Coastal Zone Advisory Committee for more than 30 years until he recently resigned in frustration.
His work also was recognized with numerous awards that included one of his highest honors as then President George H. W. Bush’s 387th “Daily Point of Light” in 1991, People’s Health Champion in 2010, and the Milton L. Cambre Spirit of the Wetlands Award, an annual accolade honoring his legacy from Barry Guillot and the Wetland Watchers that Milton has worked with for many years. He also received the Rotary Club of St. Charles Parish’s Citizen of the Year, and been a part of numerous environmental documentaries, including a TBS and U.N. World Population Fund production shown across the world.
Despite his recognitions, Cambre remains dedicated to being a part of meaningful change and for an environment that inspired him as a child to fight for its protection.
Politically, his efforts have focused on two projects, including the Lakeshore project and marsh terracing.
“So, here it is down the road, from a million a mile to a million a thousandth foot, we still don’t have it done,” he said. “We had $10.3 million to deal with the shoreline and marsh creation with terracing, but the Corps [of Engineers] killed the project in place of the airport project.”
It’s not from lack of trying as Cambre has appealed to Louisiana’s congressional delegation and brought members in the wetlands firsthand to see the destruction. So far, he hasn’t gotten word from the delegation.
“We need to protect the shoreline,” he said. “People think it’s all an environmental thing, but it’s our very existence at stake.”
When Cambre came out of military service in the last 1950s, he used to catch crawfish in the Bonne Carre Spillway under the train trestle, but now he’s catch bass there. It means Lake Pontchartrain has taken over the swamp.
“This erosion issue has gotten so bad with building I-10,” he said. “They cut through a cypress swamp and we had crawfish. Now, it’s all open water and the railroad track goes back to the 1950s.”
Cambre’s map shows the considerable land loss contributing to the problem and he’s seen it happening. He’s sounded the alarm for years with little effect and, at age 83, he said time is running for him. He’s turned to the younger generations in hope to educate them.
“I don’t have too many years left and I don’t have anybody beating down my door to take my place,” he said.
[pullquote]“We need to protect the shoreline. People think it’s all an environmental thing, but it’s our very existence at stake.” – Milton Cambre[/pullquote]It’s why Cambre educates the next generations about the wetlands and how erosion affects their parents’ flood insurance rates, referring to an earlier time when rates skyrocketed for people living in high risk areas. He also notes how the federal insurance program is in substantial debt, as well as the practical impact of ignoring land loss and flooding.
He remains dedicated to his message.
“This is not that far from you,” Cambre said of talking to the public. “It’s your backyard. Look at what’s happening there, too.”
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