Region Three: the Land and Its People

Located within what has been characterized as one of the most productive ecosystems in the United States, Region Three contains over one million acres of vegetated wetlands that hold a rich diversity of habitat and wildlife.

Encompassing the Terrebonne, Atchafalaya and Teche-Vermilion basins, the region contains bays, ponds and bayous, marshes and cypress swamps, which, along with lakes, rivers and forested wetlands, represent integral components of a complex and fragile resource.

These varied habitats support a profusion of fish and wildlife. More than 300 species of birds, many of which are winter migrants, and over 50 species of mammals have been found in the region. Also located here is the nation’s largest concentration of American Woodcock and some of the most extensive nesting habitat for Bald Eagles in the South Central United States. Both commercial and sport fisheries are supported by the region’s waters, which hold more than 85 species of fish. Its commercial fisheries contribute over half a billion dollars annually to the Louisiana economy—the annual commercial harvest of crawfish from the Atchafalaya Basin alone has approached 22 million pounds. From the wind-swept marshes to the moss-draped cypress swamps, the region’s wetlands abound with a diversity of life.

Bordered on the south by sandy barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico and distinguished in the north by farmland and hardwoods, Region Three extends from Bayou Lafourche on the east to Freshwater Bayou Canal on the west, and northerly to the boundary of the coastal wetlands. Seven Acadiana parishes (Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption, St. Martin, Iberia, St. Mary and Vermilion) are entirely or partially contained within its borders.

One of the strongest influences on the region is the Atchafalaya River. The Atchafalaya, the largest distributary of the Mississippi River, flows south from the Mississippi for over 140 miles through the Atchafalaya Basin to the Gulf of Mexico. Although the flow the river receives from the Mississippi is partly regulated by the Old River Control Structures, which divert 30 percent of the Mississippi flow to the Atchafalaya (it receives unregulated flow from the Red River), the Atchafalaya River’s annual cycles of flood and ebb continue to affect not only the vast floodplain of the Atchafalaya Basin but the adjacent Terrebonne and Teche-Vermilion basins as well. Normally, each spring, high waters from the river deliver sediment, nutrients and fresh water, inundating land near the river. The renewal of the environment brought by the waters stimulates growth and reproduction within the wetlands, contributing to the vast diversity of plants and animal life.

The Terrebonne Basin, which lies east of the Atchafalaya, contains the western portion of the Barataria-Terrebonne estuary. This estuary is regarded as the most productive of all estuaries in the lower 48 states, supporting 19 percent of the nation’s estuarine-dependent fisheries.

The abundant diversities that characterize this region are found not only in its lands and waters, but also in the culture and history of the people who call it their home. While the Acadian French history of the parishes is often reflected in expressions of Cajun culture, in fact, the area’s cultural form has been shaped by the interaction of a broad range of nationalities. French, Spanish, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian and African influences have blended together and, over more than two centuries, evolved into a southern Louisiana culture that is both distinct and marvelously indefinable.