Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Fish and Wildlife Service doing to restore the threatened Louisiana black bear?

The Service continues to work in partnership with the BBCC to facilitate recovery of the Louisiana black bear. The Service is providing $25,000 in Fiscal Year 2004 to support the BBCC’s Executive Director position.

The Service, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the BBCC, USDA Wildlife Services, and Louisiana State University are implementing a project to relocate Louisiana black bear females and their cubs to suitable unoccupied habitat in the Three Rivers/Red River complex of east-central Louisiana. That site comprises more than 100,000 acres of publically owned land (National Wildlife Refuge and State Wildlife Management Areas). The purpose of that project is to establish another breeding subpopulation between the Tensas and Atchafalaya River Basin subpopulations to accelerate population expansion. The project began in March 2001 when four female bears and their cubs were released on the Red River Wildlife Management Area. Since that time, an additional 12 female bears and their cubs have been relocated. The Service and its partners plan to continue the project and anticipate relocating another group of bears to that area in 2005.

We support and are active participants the annual Bayou Teche Bear Festival in Franklin, Louisiana. That event brings together multiple State and Federal agencies, and private organizations to create a learning environment at the festival that emphases awareness of bears in the local community. In 2004, over 200 children participated in the festival’s hands-on Educational Area. We look forward to annually participating in upcoming festivals.

We have coordinated the preparation of landscape maps that show the most important areas for future reforestation to benefit the Louisiana black bear. Those maps are now used to set priorities for programs such as our Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program so that we achieve optimum benefits for the Louisiana black bear.

What is the status of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s previous proposal to designate critical habitat for the threatened Louisiana black bear?

The Louisiana black bear was listed a threatened on February 6, 1992. Designation of critical habitat was not included with the final listing. On December 2, 1993, the Service proposed designation of critical habitat for the Louisiana black bear. A final rule has not been issued.

What is the status of the Government’s efforts to clean up the industrial contamination of the upper Calcesieu Lake estuary of southwestern Louisiana?

The Calcasieu Estuary provides important habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds, and valuable nursery and feeding habitat for numerous estuarine-dependent sport and commercial fishes and shellfishes. The upper Calcasieu Estuary was cited as one of the most contaminated areas in Louisiana in a June 1997 NOAA report. Areas of greatest concern are Coon Island Loop, Bayou Verdine, and Bayou D’Inde. The contaminants of greatest concern to Service trust resources are hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury, copper and lead. Consumption advisories are currently in effect for fish and shellfish from Bayou D’Inde.

Contamination of the upper Calcasieu Estuary potentially involves most industries in the Lake Charles petrochemical/industrial complex. The Service has been working with EPA, NOAA, and several State agencies to complete a Cooperative Management Agreement with the various “Potentially Responsible Parties” to conduct a coordinated Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, Ecological Risk Assessment, and Natural Resources Damage Assessment.

What is the Fish and Wildlife Service doing to restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands?

The Service is very concerned over the ongoing loss of 24 square miles/year of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and its effects on nationally important waterfowl, wading bird, and seabird habitat; sport and commercial fisheries; and 10 National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs). We are actively involved in interagency restoration efforts funded via the CWPPRA Task Force. Sam Hamilton of the Service’s Southeast Regional Director represents the Secretary of the Interior on that task force.

About $597 million in Federal (CWPPRA) and matching State funds have been committed for coastal wetlands restoration projects in Louisiana. The Service is implementing 20 of the projects approved by the Task Force, as well as extensive wetland restoration and preservation actions on several NWRs in coastal Louisiana, using other (non-CWPPRA) funding sources. We are also a member of the LCA Co-Location Team, working on several LCA feasibility studies of large-scale coastal restoration measures. In FY 2004 we assisted the Corps of Engineers in completing the LCA Near-term Plan, which would serve as a vital first step in delivering critically needed large-scale projects to restore Louisiana’s coastal ecosystem over the next 10 years at a cost of $1.9 billion. We also work closely with the Corps of Engineers to plan and implement projects to benefit coastal wetlands through measures such as marsh creation via placement of dredged material during maintenance of Federal navigation channels, and re-introduction of Mississippi River flows into adjacent coastal wetlands.

What is the Louisiana Statewide Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA)?

This agreement is designed to enhance conservation of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) through voluntary habitat improvements by private landowners in Louisiana. This 99-year agreement between the Service and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), signed in January 2005, will result in conservation of RCWs, while providing Safe Harbor assurances to participating non-federal landowners throughout the state. The Service, LDWF, Louisiana Forestry Association, and various other partners/stakeholders cooperated in developing this agreement, and to date, 4 landowners, with a total of approximately 216,000 acres, have announced their immediate intentions to enroll in this SHA. Interested landowners should contact either the Lafayette Field Office (337/291-3100), or Mr. Eric Baka, LDWF Safe Harbor Coordinator (225/765-2359).

What is the Louisiana Pine Snake Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA)?

This agreement, signed in 2003, is a conservation agreement among Federal, State, and private organizations designed to identify and establish management and protection guidelines for the Louisiana pine snake on public and private lands in Texas and Louisiana. The pine snake, a candidate for Federal listing, historically occurred in the longleaf pine ecosystem of northwest Louisiana and east-central Texas. It is currently known to occur in only a few locations in each state and this agreement would cover all known occurrences on Federal lands. This agreement provides a means for all partners to promote the conservation of the Louisiana pine snake in an effort to preclude the need to list this species. Landowners that are interested in participating in this CCA are urged to contact the Lafayette Field Office at 337/291-3100.