NEWSROOM
Cooperative
Coastal Restoration Project to Benefit Marshland and Wildlife
in Terrebonne Parish
April 19, 2005
MONTEGUT - A coalition
of state, local and federal entities, conservation groups and
private enterprise, are working to restore 4,700 acres of brackish
marshland within the Pointe Aux Chenes Wildlife Management Area
in Terrebonne Parish.
Project partners provided
details and tours today (April 19, 2005) to officials gathered
at the site off La. 665, southeast of Houma.
The $1.7 million project
sponsors include Ducks Unlimited (DU), the North American Wetlands
Conservation Council, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
(LDNR), the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF),
Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, Apache Louisiana Minerals
Inc., Burlington Resources, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service and S. Gordon Reese.
Officially classified
as a hydrologic restoration, the project work consists of channel
excavation, levee construction and the installation of water control
structures. The project construction contract was awarded to T.
Baker Smith & Son Inc. of Houma.
The project, scheduled
for completion in October 2005, will increase breeding, wintering
and migration habitat for migratory birds by reducing salinity
levels and wave action to promote the growth of aquatic vegetation.
Species benefiting from the improved habitat will include waterfowl,
shorebirds, wading birds and other wetland dependent wildlife.
Once completed, the new water control structures will be managed
by LDWF's Fur and Refuge Division.
Pointe Aux
Chenes WMA encompasses 35,000 of marshland interspersed with numerous
ponds, bayous and canals. La. 665 divides the management area
between Terrebonne and LaFourche parishes. For more information
on the WMA, visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov.
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