way. Natural processes are allowed to proceed unin- 

 terrupted. There are no weirs, impoundments, shore- 

 line stabilization projects, or marsh burning programs. 

 Finally, economic activities such as mineral extrac- 

 tion or cattle grazing are prohibited. 



4.7.2 PRESERVATION OF WILDLIFE 



A slightly more active management objective is 

 to preserve wildlife habitat and to improve that habi- 

 tat where possible. In the Chenier Plain there are 

 three areas managed to optimize this objective 

 (table 4.15). Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Refuge and Game 

 Preserve (10,522 ha or 26,000 a), located in the 

 Vermilion Basin, is owned and managed by the 

 National Audubon Society. The refuge is located west 

 of State Wildlife Refuge and is bordered to the south 

 by a seven mile beach on the Gulf of Mexico. State 

 Wildhfe Refuge (6,070 ha or 15,000 a), received by 

 the State of Louisiana through gifts of donation, is 

 situated directly west of Vermilion Bay. Rockefeller 

 Refuge (34,800 ha or 86,000 a) was established in 

 October 1920 by a Deed of Donation from the 

 Rockefeller Foundation to the State of Louisiana. 

 The refuge is located on the Gulf in the Chenier 

 Basin. Both State and Rockefeller WildUfe refuges are 

 administered by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife 

 and Fisheries. 



The management program for the three refuges 

 consists of protection of aU wildlife, and of alteration 

 of the land for purposes of habitat improvement. 

 Trapping of furbearers is allowed on Rockefeller and 

 State Wildhfe refuges. To improve wildhfe habitat, 

 the land may be managed by weirs and impoundments 

 (Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge) and by such techniques 

 as marsh burning (State and Rockefeller refuges). 

 Rockefeller and Paul J. Rainey Wildlife refuges have 

 extensive oil and gas activities that are supervised by 

 refuge personnel. Access is denied in areas of ongoing 

 research, and any pubUc use of roads or canals in 

 other areas is detemiined by refuge personnel. Spoil 

 deposition is regulated and nonproductive drill sites 

 must be returned to their former states (Joanen, un- 

 published). State Wildlife Refuge allows no oil or gas 

 developments. 



4.7.3 MANAGEMENT OF WILDLIFE HABITAT 



A third management objective is habitat improve- 

 ment and protection of selected species of wildlife. In 

 the Chenier Plain the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, 

 Lacassine National Wildhfe Refuge, Anahuac National 

 Wildhfe Refuge, J. D. Murphree Wildlife Management 

 Area, and Sea Rim State Park are managed for this 

 objective. 



Sabine National Wildlife Refuge (57,809 ha or 

 142,849 a) was estabUshed in 1937 to protect and 

 manage a large block of marshland important to win- 

 tering waterfowl. The refuge is located between Sabine 

 Lake and Calcasieu Lake and extends just southeast of 

 Calcasieu Lake in southwestern Louisiana. Lacassine 

 National Wildlife Refuge, also in southwestern 

 Louisiana, is situated northeast of Grand Lake. The 

 12,856 ha (31,768 a) making up this refuge were also 

 set aside for wintering waterfowl. In these refuges the 

 management program allows alteration of the land to 

 improve habitat, selected wildlife preservation and 

 protection, and controlled economic activities. Both 

 refuges have permanently flooded, freshwater im- 

 poundments. Impoundments retain water on the 

 marsh and, at Sabine, provide habitat diversity within 

 the refuge. Controlled burning of marshlands is 

 employed for the management of geese and furbearers. 

 Hunting is restricted to the taking of ducks, geese, 

 and coots with 12-gauge shotguns and steel shot. Trap- 

 ping is also permitted for furbearers on both refuges. 

 Management allows carefully controlled oil and gas 

 extraction, cattle grazing, and leasing of land for 

 agriculture. Both Sabine and Lacassine have oil and 

 gas activities on the parts of the refuges where the 

 mineral rights belong to another party. These activi- 

 ties are more controlled than general oil and gas 

 extraction. The Lacassine Refuge management pro- 

 gram generally limits oil and gas activities to the 

 period from 1 April to 1 October. The Sabine Refuge 

 management plan requires ring levees to be used at 

 oil and gas well sites, and nonproductive wells to be 

 plugged (Walther, unpubUshed). Both refuges allow 

 cattle grazing. Grazing is allowed on Sabine Refuge 

 from 15 October to 15 April. At the present time, 

 Lacassine allows grazing year-round on specified sites. 



Table 4.15. Refuges in the Chenier Plain 



Refuge 



Basin 



Size (ha) 



Primary management objective 



Paul J. Rainey 

 Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve 



State Wildlife Refuge 



Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge 



Sabine National Wildlife Refuge 



Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge 



Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge 



Sea Rim State Park 



J. D. Murphree 

 Wildlife Mamagement Area 



Sabine 



Preserve and improve habitat 

 Preserve and improve habitat 

 Preserve and improve habitat 

 Habitat improvement for waterfowl 

 Habitat improvement for waterfowl 

 Habitat improvement for waterfowl 

 Habitat improvement for waterfowl 



3,404 Habitat improvement for waterfowl 



188 



