Because of its extensive coastal wetlands, Louisiana has been the leading 

 fur-producing area in North America as long as records have been kept (Lowery 1974). 

 The Louisiana fur harvest accounted for nearly one-third of the Nation's fur take in the 

 19^9-70 season (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1971). According to the Louisiana 

 Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (1978b), over 3.2 million pelts worth more than $24 

 million were taken in Louisiana during the 1976-77 season. Muskrat and nutria, primarily 

 coastal species, accounted for nearly 90% of the pelts harvested during that period. 



In recent years, alligator numbers in the LCR have exceeded 500,000, thus 

 permitting controlled hunting in much of the area. In 1979, 16,300 alligators worth 

 approximately $1.7 million were harvested in the LCR (Louisiana Department of Wildlife 

 and Fisheries 1980). 



The LCR supports extensive sport hunting and other wildlife-oriented recreation. 

 For example, an estimated 676,000 man-days were spent waterfowl hunting in the LCR 

 during the 1977-78 season (Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 1978a), and 

 the 1980 demand for nonconsumptive wildlife-oriented recreation in the LCR was 

 projected at 1.14 million man-days (U.S Fish and Wildlife Service 1976). 



MAGNITUDE OF WETLAND DETERIORATION IN COASTAL LOUISIANA 



]rly studies by Gagliano and van Beek (1970) documented a net annual land loss 

 42.7 km (16.5 mi ) in the LCR. This estimate was based on a comparison of 



Ear 

 rate of k^.i Km- \\b.o mi-; in rne ll,k. mis esTimare was Dasea on a compar 

 maps covering the periods 1931-42 and 1 948-67. Recent studies of wetland loss have been 

 conducted in the chenier plain ecosystem of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas 

 (Gosselink et al. 1979). Based on these studies, it was estimated that approximately 

 1,800 ha (4,400 acres)/yr of marsh were converted to open water, spoil deposits, or 

 agricultural or urban uses between 1952 and 1974 in the Louisiana portion of the chenier 

 plain. A recent study (Wicker 1980) of the Mississippi Deltaic Plain Region (MDPR) 

 conducted for the Fish and Wildlife Service's National Coastal Ecosystems Team and the 

 U.S. Bureau of Land Management produced dramatic results. Data obtained from 

 planimetering habitat maps prepared for this study revealed that approximately 188,000 

 ha (465,500 acres) of coastal marsh were lost in the Louisiana portion of the MDPR 

 betweeri 1955-56 and 1978, for an annual loss rate of about 8,300 ha (20,600 acres) or 

 32.3 mi^/yr. Combining this estimate with the estimated marsh loss rate of 1,800 ha 

 (4,400 acres)/yr in the chenier plain, it is estimated that the marshes of the entire LCR 

 are being lost at an approximate rate of 10,000 ha (25,000 acres)/yr or 100 km^(39 

 mi )/yr. This is more than twice the rate of 42.7 km^ (16.5 mi^)/yr reported by Gagliano 

 and van Beek (1970). 



CAUSES OF WETLAND DETERIORATION 



Wetland deterioration in the LCR is attributed to land loss and salt water 

 intrusion. According to Craig et al. (1979) land loss in the LCR results from an 

 interaction of natural and man-induced impacts. Natural land loss occurs through 

 subsidence, compaction, and erosion of the substrate following cessation of active deltaic 

 deposition (Morgan 1973). Barrier islands and tidal inlets buffer coastal marshes from 

 storm energy and regulate salinities. The erosion of barrier islands and widening of tidal 

 inlets have also been identified as causes of land loss (Craig et al. 1979). Numerous 

 man-induced alterations have accelerated natural wetland loss. Federally financed 



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