feeding and resting enroute to or 

 from Central and South America 

 (Palmisano 1973) . The Louisiana 

 coastal marshes and adjacent rice- 

 fields have supported 369,000 lesser 

 snow geese and 55,000 white-fronted 

 geese in recent years (A.R. Brazda 

 personel communication). 



The LCR wetlands provide im- 

 portant habitat to numerous other 

 migratory birds. Common game spe- 

 cies include clapper rail, king 

 rail, sora, common snipe, purple 

 gallinule, and common gallinule. 

 Non-game migratory species are also 

 abundant in the area. A total of 

 148 nesting colonies of seabirds, 

 wading birds, and shorebirds re- 

 presenting 26 species and over 

 794,000 nesting adults were inven- 

 toried in the LCR during 1976 

 (Portnoy 1977). In addition, ap- 

 proximately 14 active bald eagle 

 nests were recorded by Fish and 

 Wildlife Service personnel in the 

 LCR during 1980, representing the 

 largest nesting concentration of 

 this endangered species in the 

 south-central United States. 



Because of its extensive coast- 

 al 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 1969-1970 season (U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service 1971). Accord- 

 ing 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 1976-1977 season. Musk- 

 rat and nutria, primarily coastal 

 species, accounted for nearly 90 

 percent of the pelts harvested dur- 

 ing that period. 



Alligators in the LCR exceed 



300,000 (Louisiana Department of 

 Wildlife and Fisheries 1980a), per- 

 mitting controlled hunting in much of 

 the area. In 1979, 16,300 alliga- 

 tors, worth approximately $1.7 mil- 

 lion, were harvested in the LCR 

 (Louisiana Department of Wildlife and 

 Fisheries 1980b). 



The LCR supports extensive sport 

 hunting and other wildlife-oriented 

 recreation. For example, an esti- 

 mated 676,000 man-days were spent 

 waterfowl hunting in the LCR during 

 the 1977-1978 season (Louisiana 

 Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 

 1978a), and the 1980 demand for con- 

 sumptive wildlife-oriented recreation 

 in the LCR has been projected at 1.14 

 million man-days (U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service 1976). 



MAGNITUDE OF WETLAND DETERIORATION 

 IN COASTAL LOUISIANA 



Gagliano and van Beek (1970) 

 documented a net annual -land-loss 

 rate of 16.5 mi (42.7km ) in the 

 LCR. This estimate was based on a 

 comparison of maps covering the 

 periods 1931-1942 and 1948-1967. 

 Using U.S. Geological Survey quad- 

 rangle sheets and aerial photographs 

 for the period 1960-1974, Adams et 

 al. (1976) established a net annual 

 marsh-loss rate in the Barataria 

 Basin of the LCR estimated at 3,200 

 to 7,416 acres (1,295 to 3,001 ha). 

 Craig et al. (1979) compared this 

 rate reported by Adams et al. (1976) 

 to the 1,942 acres (786 ha) reported 

 by Gagliano and van Beek (1970) for 

 this area, indicating an increase in 

 the land-loss rate of 65 percent to 

 282 percent over the rate reported by 

 the latter authors. Recent studies 

 of wetland loss have been conducted 

 in the Chenier Plain ecosystem of 



390 



