as sugar, cotton, and timber to major water ports along the gulf coast. Sections of the Gulf 

 Intracoastal Waterway developed from these early transportation arteries as they expanded and 

 were used in more recent eras. 



Natural production of fish and wildlife resources has been a major attraction for generations 

 of humans along the coast. Numerous midden sites attest to this attraction for early Indian 

 inhabitants of the coast. Fish scales, clam shells, and animal bones and teeth indicate a high 

 degree of use of the ecosystem's natural resources. 



Extensive private land purchases of the Louisiana coastal wetlands were made during the first 

 quarter of this century. Some of these purchases were for developing farming ventures, but many 

 of the acquisitions were to harvest the abundant supply of wild furbearing animals. Commercial 

 harvest of migratory waterfowl may have been one of the first applied influences of wetland 

 management. A dependable supply of ducks was required to make this type of employment 

 worthwhile. 



Water level management and access ditches were the mainstay of the early management projects. 

 Impoundments to attract large concentrations of ducks were the outgrowth of rice culture activities 

 in southwest Louisiana. Water deficiencies throughout much of the central portion of the 

 continent during the early 1930's played an important role in the concept of constructing large 

 reservoirs to provide habitat for waterfowl. 



Most early fur management programs were little more than the annual harvest of as many 

 animals as possible during seasons established by the Louisiana Department of Conservation, the 

 forerunner of the present day Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. As cycles of 

 muskrat became more common, many trappers and land managers introduced the practice of 

 draining their "eatouts" by cutting ditches into a nearby bayou or waterway. Little information 

 with regard to the danger of saltwater intrusion and impounding was available or understood. 



DISCUSSION 



Few, if any, of the early marsh management practices carried out on private and public 

 properties required specific permits, unless their features would have an impact upon navigation 

 in a public waterway. The following excerpt from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pamphlet 

 EP 1145-2-1, May 1985, (Wall 1985) may be of assistance in understanding the authority for the 

 regulatory program. 



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been regulating activities in the nation's waters 

 since 1890. Until the 1960's the primary purpose of the regulatory program was to 

 protect navigation. Since then, as a result of laws and court decisions, the program 

 has been broadened so that it now considers the full public interest for both the 

 protection and utilization of water resources. 



The regulatory authorities and responsibilities of the Corps of Engineers are based 

 on the following laws: 



Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) prohibits the 

 obstruction or alteration of navigable waters of the United States without a permit 

 from the Corps of Engineers. 



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