Cajun Heritage

As you all know, our family tries to promote our Cajun heritage as much as possible. It doesn't just include food and music, but the natural wildlife and foliage. In the past, there has been considerable heated debate over the condition of the Prairie project in Eunice. Many in the area want it mowed down. I wrote this letter to the editor of the Eunice News, and it was published last week (with a few unagreed-upon changes).

4A Sunday, September 23, 2007

Letters· to Editor

What's the problem? Editor, The Eunice News:

I writing in response to the "whole community" complaining about the Prairie project on the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Magnolia.

The Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society purchased 10 acres of land from Union Pacific and maintains that land with a parking lot, paved sidewalks, annual burning of the property, and even weed trim­ming along the sidewalks.

Have any of you pulled away from the sitcoms on TV and been out to this project? I have.

And the funny thing is, I can't see anyone's backyard, or even front yard next to this property. It is separated by the railroad on the north side, streets on the east and south sides, and an empty shrub and tallow tree- covered lot owned by Union Pacific on the west side.

I'm not sure I understand what the complaints are about. Maybe we should be calling Union Pacific instead.

We talk about sharing our Cajun culture and heritage with our chil­dren, with our neighbors, and with interested visitors. It's not just about food and music. Part of that culture is. a habitat native to the Cajun prairie.

Where can you go to truly see this habitat? The wetlands are disappear­ing, but so is the Cajun prairie. Oh, there are plenty of fields; where the grass, weeds and chicken trees have been taken over (just look right next to the Prairie Project).

The Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society is trying to pro­mote Louisiana's natural Cajun prai­rie, and the city wants them to mow it down.

I have plenty of mowed lawn to look at, but when I want to see wildflowers that are different with every season, this is the place I go and take my children to.

And have you seen the butterflies?

I'm not just talking about the seem­ingly ubiquitous monarch that flies thousands of miles from Mexico. I've noticed cloudless sulphurs that are a delicate pale yellow, the color of that sticky note on your desk. Did you know that butterflies actually have host plants, or plants where they pre­fer to get their nectar?

Speaking of nectar, the humming­birds are out. Louisiana has more species of birds than 44 other states. What do birds feed on? Oh, that's right, insects. And insects feed off of plants. -

Go to the Prairie Project and really look at the plants, grasses and flow­ers.

I want my five children to have the joy of discovering the world God cre­ated for us. Please allow them that.

Kelly L. Pitre Co-owner, L' Acadie Inn Eunice

If you would like to see pictures of this project, please check out the website www.cajunprairie.org It is well worth a gander!