What Louisiana law requires if mineral activity is authorized on Marsh Island

Louisiana law sets conditions for any mineral activity the State Mineral and Energy Board may authorize on Marsh Island. The statute does not establish that a lease, geophysical survey, payment or other activity is occurring now or occurred in the past.\n\n\n\nEditorial graphic by Vermilion Boom. It is not a map, photograph or depiction of Marsh Island.\n\nUnder R.S. 56:798, the board may lease all or part of Marsh Island for mineral exploration, development or production only under terms that protect the island for the purposes of its donation and ensure minimum disturbance of wildlife.\n\nThe law also directs how non-tax state revenue from such activity would be divided: one half to the Russell Sage Foundation, while the state's half is first directed to maintaining, policing and improving Marsh Island as a wildlife refuge or reserve. It establishes further rules for year-end excess in the operating fund.\n\nThe secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries must submit a detailed annual report of expenditures from the state's half to the State Mineral and Energy Board by July 30, with one copy delivered to the foundation. The statute says geophysical-survey permits are subject to the same terms and revenue disposition.\n\nThe statute is a framework for authorization and accountability. It does not document a lease, permit, revenue amount, expenditure, compliance finding or ecological outcome.