Boat remnants could signal change in bayou's status

By Vickie Welborn

Cotton Valley resident Lane Merritt believes he's found what he describes as a "smoking gun" that could provide crucial evidence of the navigability of upper Bayou Dorcheat during the early 1900s.

And if so, it would add ammunition to an argument shared by Merritt, Webster police jurors and others who want the state attorney general's office to revisit a 1926 court decision the declared the scenic bayou as non-navigable, thus making it privately owned.

Merritt, one of the biggest cheerleaders of public access of the bayou, found what appears to be remnants of a flatboat on the shoreline. The area typically would be under water but drought conditions have exposed the structure.

Merritt shared photographs of his find with archaeologists, whom he says want to visit the site and record its discovery. However, Merritt is concerned that the landowner on whose property the wreckage sits may remove it first.

Landowner Wayne Sharp in an e-mail to Merritt on Friday acknowledged finding the wreckage a year or so ago and pledged to "continue salvage operations within days." He already moved some of the loose planks.

In another e-mail, Sharp said, "I am for public use, but private ownership of the bayou. I for one, as a land owner will cooperate with public access until there is an effort to take ownership; that is where I will draw the line at cooperation. It appears you are attempting to document in an effort to establish a case for government ownership of the bayou, I will not cooperate with that end and regretfully must deny you access to private property, owned by me, known as Bayou Dorcheat."

Sharp did not return a message Wednesday seeking additional comment.

George J. Castille, who does geoforensics for Coastal Environments Inc., an environmental consulting firm, said in an e-mail to The Times that the watercraft Merritt discovered is a flatboat of some sort, most likely dating to the 19th century. "The shape suggests it may have been a small ferry. I don't know of any similar watercraft that have been found intact in Louisiana."

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