Two LSU AgCenter researchers are trying to persuade the state to buy one of Louisiana’s few accessible beaches.
The site – Elmer’s Island – is one of only three Louisiana beach-fronts accessible by car.
The 1,700-acre beach-front property, located across from the bridge to Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish, is currently up for sale by its owner.
LSU AgCenter researchers Rex Caffey and Krishna Paudel both say they would like to see the state purchase the land, keeping it open to the public.
The site’s owner, Jay Elmer, allowed the public to visit the beach for a small fee, Caffey said.
But in 2001 Elmer died, forcing the beach’s closure until his family can find a buyer.
Elmer’s Island’s accessibility and inexpensiveness has kept it a hot spot for local beach-goers for the past 30 years, Caffey said.
As of now, the property is for sale through Property One Incorporated. The real estate company has posted several classified advertisements in local sportsman magazines to attract private suitors. The property is listed at $5.9 million.
To lure the state into buying the land, Caffey and Paudel conducted a survey to gauge public opinion. Ninety-six percent of the 2,696 people surveyed approved the notion of the state buying the property to keep it a state park or a wildlife management area, Caffey said.
The survey ran for 12 weeks and was administered on various Internet sites as well as in face-to-face interviews, Caffey said.
Paudel said the face-to-face interviews he and Caffey conducted brought up a lot of important issues that people have about the possible sale of the land to a private group.
“They said that if it became private they would probably not be able to go out and enjoy its natural beauty,” Paudel said.
From results received in the survey Caffey and Paudel have formed a report that they have given to the governor’s office.
Randy Lanctot, executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, said he hopes the report will help give the state the information it needs to make an informed decision to purchase the land.
“The state was waiting on the report to help decide what an alternative offer could be,” Lanctot said.
Last spring, the state made a preliminary $1 million offer to the family, but the price was much lower than the Elmers had wanted, Lanctot said.
Lanctot said if the state can not make a more reasonable offer, then the land would be destined to become a camp development site for fishermen.