delta marsh, levees and spoil banks). In particular, the impacts of each 

 oil and gas development activity were discussed in Chapter 6 of the 

 technical report with the aid of the appropriate base diagram, showing 

 specific impact pathways as boldened lines, and with a relatively lengthy 

 section on "Attribute Alterations". The base diagrams, used in Chapter 3 

 in describing the dynamics of the six coastal ecosystems, were retained 

 for this manual. The impact diagrams presented in Chapter 6 were removed. 



2) Analyses of stipulations - also presented in Chapter 6, along with the 

 discussion of each development activity and associated ecological im- 

 pacts, was an analysis of existing stipulations used on the five National 

 Wildlife Refuges covered in the study. Where appropriate, the existing 

 stipulations were modified, and where necessary, new stipulations were 

 proposed. While it is instructive to compare standards in their current 

 wordings with more effective modified forms, such an analysis is not 

 crucial for the refuge manager. Chapter 7 is a summary of the most use- 

 ful existing, modified, and proposed stipulations. 



3) Other information regarding stipulations - an appendix contained lists of 

 the existing stipulations and their sources. Again, reasoning that the 

 refuge manager would not often require these sources, this information 

 was removed for the purpose of conserving space. 



4) Miscellaneous information - In other instances, information not essential 

 to refuge management was excluded. 



The extended technical report has been printed in limited numbers and is 

 accessible to refuge managers and interested organizations. Managers are en- 

 couraged to make use of the long version, in particular the ecosystem diagrams 

 that graphically show how the impacts wrought by oil and gas activities track 

 the pathways between components in coastal ecosystems. 



The reader will note that some of the information in this manual, particu- 

 larly in Chapters 6 and 7, is repeated, either within an ecosystem type or 

 across types. This manual is intended to be a useful reference, in which 

 specific information is easily accessible. Information blocks have been 

 repeated where necessary to avoid time-consuming cross-referencing and page- 

 jumping. The same organizational format has been used throughout, and 

 corresponds to the format in both the long report and the handbook. 



For information contact: Information Transfer Specialist 



National Coastal Ecosystems Team 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 1010 Gause Blvd. 

 Slidell, LA 70458 



IV 



