'We are called on to do better': Task force established to tackle Louisiana's litter legacy

Louisiana's Sportsman's Paradise is a dumping ground.

"I don’t know that in my lifetime the problem with litter has ever been worse than it is right now,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. "We are not being good stewards of what God has entrusted to us. We are called on to do better."

Edwards kicked off the first meeting of his new Governor's Task Force on Statewide Litter Abatement and Beautification Tuesday at the Water Campus in Baton Rouge.

"We want everyone to be part of the solution," he said.

Edwards' initiative will be led by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser through his office, which oversees tourism, state parks and museums.

Nungesser said his drive from Covington to Baton Rouge Tuesday illustrated the problem.

"I was disgusted," he said of his drive on Interstate 12. "I saw a mattress, rolls of shrink wrap, cans. It's unacceptable."

Keep Louisiana Beautiful lists Louisiana as the eighth-most littered state in America.

But Louisiana's litter problem isn't new.

It gained attention in 2017 when former state parks director Robert Barham declared Louisiana as "the trashiest state in America" while testifying during a budget hearing in the Capitol.

Legislative efforts to address the problem followed.

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In 2017 Rep. Stuart Bishop of Lafayette passed a bill to require public schools to add litter prevention instruction for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The following year Rep. Phillip DeVillier of Eunice passed a bill to add the option of 30 days in jail to penalties for gross littering in Louisiana and extend the amount of time someone can be prosecuted for the crime.

Nungesser believes Edwards' emphasis on the issue will elevate the effort to clean up the state.

"It really takes someone from the top to do something about it," Nungesser said. "You see that he has every member of his cabinet and executive staff here today to be engaged."

The governor is asking the Legislature to fund the new initiative with $1.5 million this year.

Louisiana already spends about $40 million a year on litter abatement with about $10 million coming through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

Among those on the 26-member task force is St. Mary Parish Schools Superintendent Teresa Bagwell, who believes change requires a cultural shift that must start at an early age.

"As an educator one of the goals we teach our students is to become conscientious citizens," Bagwell said. "We have to build a sense of pride in who we are and where we come from."

The task force must present a strategy and recommendations by July 1.

"I really believe this can be transformational for our state," Edwards said.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana eighth-most littered state, task force formed to tackle issue