S A 1970 - 2020 SCENIC SURROUNDINGlaconservationist.wlf.la.gov/wp-content/uploads/...The photos of...

Summer 2020

LDWF Celebrates 50 Years of Louisiana’s Natural and

Scenic Rivers System

SCENIC SURROUNDING

5LOUISIANA SCENIC RIV

ERS

WILDLIFE & FISHERIES

1970 - 2020

LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY

Dear Reader,

The first 20 years of the 21st century have certainly been challenging for the people of Louisiana. We’ve faced devastating hurricanes, floods, a man-made di-saster that decimated our coast and wildlife, a recession and now the COVID-19 pandemic, which has altered normal life for not only us, but for most of the world.

Back in April, when the pandemic appeared to be at its apex, we paused to re-member the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, which severely impacted our coast. The spill happened on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and dumping 4.9 million bar-rels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico during 87 days. Though all five Gulf Coast states were affected, none sustained the damage inflicted upon Louisiana.

When the disaster happened, the future of so much of our habitat, wildlife and fisheries in the affected areas looked bleak. The photos of the oil-soaked brown pelicans were heart breaking. We questioned whether our natural resources would ever recover.

Though I was not at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at the time, I knew the outstanding work of LDWF employees during and after the spill. They pushed through the adversity thrown at them in the most difficult of situations.

Moreover, that work continues today with several restoration and recovery proj-ects. I’m so proud of the accomplishments since the spill and the ongoing work by our staff to enhance and improve our treasured natural resources.

Louisiana is resilient and symbolizes the word rebirth. With the assistance of Loui-siana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and Louisiana Trustee Imple-mentation Group, we have begun smart restoration projects with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill settlement funds, which is resulting in birds and other species returning to coastal Louisiana.

Ten years later, we are working to complete a bold restoration effort that’s re-building and improving our environment.

Seeing the completion of the Queen Bess Island restoration in February was an important milestone for the public to witness as dozens of pelicans flocked there for nesting during the spring.

Now we continue the arduous process of working through and recovering from the pandemic. However, I am encouraged by the people of Louisiana who, through it all, have continued to enjoy our outdoor resources this spring. It re-minded me of the vital work we do here at LDWF and for whom we do it, the citizens of our great state.

I ask that you continue to practice social distancing measures if you’re out fishing, hunting or simply enjoying Louisiana outdoors. Be safe out there and, as Louisi-ana has done each time before, we will pull through this, too.

Sincerely,

Jack Montoucet, Secretary

John Bel Edwards, GovernorJack Montoucet, SecretaryRobert Shadoin, Deputy SecretaryBryan McClinton, UndersecretaryRandy Myers, Assistant SecretaryPatrick Banks, Assistant SecretarySamuel “Sammy” Martin, Colonel-Enforcement

LOUISIANA WILDLIFE & FISHERIES COMMISSIONWilliam D. “Bill” Hogan, ChairmanJerri G. Smitko, Vice ChairmanChad J. CourvilleWilliam J. “Joe” McPhersonDusty J. GuidryAlfred R. SunseriRobert J. Samanie III

THE CONSERVATIONIST STAFFEd Pratt, Press Secretary, PublisherRene LeBreton, Public Information DirectorRobert “Trey” Iles, Managing EditorAdam Einck, Contributing EditorBecky Chapman, Creative Director, Graphic DesignerJoel Courtney, Photographer, MultimediaSherry Morton, Contributing WriterGabe Giffin, Photographer

Copyright 2020 by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisher-ies. This publication is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or other materials.

Louisiana Conservationist is published quarterly by the Louisiana De-partment of Wildlife and Fisheries, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, 225-765-2800.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Louisiana Conservationist, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898.

Regulations of the U.S. Department of Interior strictly prohibit unlaw-ful discrimination in the departmental federally assisted programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any pro-gram, activity or facility operated by a recipient of federal assistance should write to: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Depart-ment of Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

This public document was published at a total cost of $3,908.26. 5,000 copies of this public document were published in the first printing at a cost of $3,908.26. This document was published by OTS-Production Support Services, 627 North 4th St, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to provide information on opportunities in Louisiana. This material was printed in accordance with the standards for printing by state agencies established pursuant to R.S. 43:31. Printing of this material was purchased in accordance with the provisions of Title 43 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes.

Summer 2020 | Volume 71 | No. 2Baton Rouge, LA 70808

1laconservationist.wlf.la.gov

CONTENTSLouisiana ConservationistSummer 2020laconservationist.wlf.la.gov

2A Natural Fit

The Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers Program Celebrates 50 Years

Trey Iles

Fishing Could Soon Become Offcial High School Sport In Louisiana

Sherry Morton

Penalties For Boating Under The Influence Mirror Those Of The Road

Adam Einck

9Angling For Attention

12Common Offshore Fish of Louisiana

21Sober Boater

Smoked Shrimp Dip, Shrimp and Corn Chowder, Shrimp Celeste

23Louisiana On Your Plate

Owls In Louisiana

24Times Gone By

Bayou D’Arbonne Lake and Big Lake Wildlife Management Area

14Waterbody & WMA Spotlight

LDWF’s Actions During, After 2010 Oil Spill Help Mitigate The Disaster

Trey Iles

16Recovering, Restoring

6Catching A Brake


ERS


1970 - 2020

Public Will Enjoy Improvements At Bussey Brake WMA

Sherry M orton

2 Louisiana Conservationist | Summer 2020

B Blind River is so Louisiana. It meanders slowly through St. James, Ascension and Livingston parishes before emptying into Lake Maurepas. Its path flows past beautiful cypress tupelo swamp with an array of wildlife to greet you on the journey. It’s almost right out of Hollywood casting for a Bayou State waterway, almost too good to be true. But thanks to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Natural and Scenic Rivers System, of which Blind River is a part, the natural beauty of this waterbody is pre-served and protected. It’s one of LDWF Biologist Director Kyle Balkum’s favorite Louisiana waterways.

A NATURAL FIT

“Blind River is excellent if you want to get a good feel for a Louisiana stream,” said Balkum, who oversees LDWF’s Scenic Rivers System. “It’s a beautiful river that’s influenced by the tide. It’s a wide, slow moving river that drains a lot of areas. You can have a blast spending the day paddling, fishing or boating on it.” Though a solid choice, it’s certainly not the only Louisi-ana Scenic River to be enjoyed. Throughout the state, there are approximately 80 streams or stream segments thereof, constituting an estimated 3,100 miles of Louisiana’s streams, rivers and bayous that make up the Scenic Rivers System, which is administered by LDWF.

LDWF’s Natural And Scenic Rivers Showcase Many Of The Beautiful Waterways Of Louisianastory by TREY ILES, LDWF Public Information


ERS


1970 - 2020


One of Louisiana’s natural resource treasures is the abundance of waterways in the state. Meandering bayous, streams, rivers, coastal marshes and tidal creeks help make up the diversity of waterways in the Sportsman’s Paradise. That’s why 50 years ago the Louisiana Legislature created the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers System. So in 2020, LDWF is celebrating the creation and evolu-tion of the system and spotlighting exactly how, where and why these beautiful waterbodies are so recognized. Among the events scheduled will be an anniversary celebration in Lacombe at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Loui-siana Complex. LDWF will partner with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, the Nature Conservancy of Louisiana and the Lake Pontchar-train Basin Foundation to stage this event. The purpose of the system was simple: to preserve, pro-tect, develop, reclaim and enhance the wilderness qualities, scenic beauties and ecological regimes of certain free-flowing Louisiana streams. “Louisiana’s Scenic Rivers System is one of the largest systems like it in the world and LDWF is proud of the role it plays in this effort,” said LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet. “It was clear many of these rivers and streams needed shielding and preservation so that generations to come would be able to enjoy them. In addition, we always want to make sure that prime habitat such as these rivers and streams are guarded so fisheries and wildlife can continue to flourish.”

HOW IT GOT STARTED In the late 1960s, the American public was beginning to realize the importance of keeping the nation’s waterways clean. The Clean Water Act was passed by Congress in 1972. But many states, including Louisiana, were working to de-velop plans to protect and preserve waterways before that legislation passed. Two people instrumental in that in Louisiana were Gladney Davidson, an LSU graduate student, and Louisiana State Senator George T. Oubre, who authored the Scenic Rivers legislation. Davidson, who was killed in a car accident in 1981, did his thesis on Louisiana waterways, titled “Stream and Stream Pres-ervation: Justification for a Scenic Rivers Program in Louisiana.” “His thesis seems to have been part of the inspiration be-hind the Scenic Rivers System legislation,” Balkum said. “I’ve always been told that a significant push behind the act was his thesis on comprehensive stream surveys.” The legislation had teeth. This was more than just desig-nating some Louisiana waterways as Scenic Rivers and it was more than symbolism over substance. “One of our goals through a regulatory program is to try and preserve those natural, wilderness and scenic qualities on those rivers,” Balkum said. “We do permit activity to try to avoid, minimize and mitigate those impacts as best as possible.” Certain activities are prohibited on designated Natural and Scenic Rivers because of their detrimental ecological impacts on the streams. These include channelization, clearing and


snagging, channel realignment, reservoir con-struction, commercial clear-cutting of trees within 100 feet of the ordinary low water mark and use of a motor vehicle or other wheeled or tracked vehicle on a designated stream. Scenic River permits are required for activities on or near system rivers that may detrimentally impact the ecological integrity, scenic beauty or wilderness qualities of those rivers. These permits, when granted, contain specific conditions aimed at preserving the stream’s natural character and quality. That regulation was put to the test in 2013 and 2014. LDWF biologists believed ATV use, rampant especially on the weekends, in some of the system’s waterbodies was to the detriment of fish and wildlife species as well as other recreational user groups. LDWF fish-eries biologists sampled the areas of ATV use and found the diversity in the fish communi-ties had been severely damaged. “We found the diversity of the fish com-munities was gone,” Balkum said. “We had a few less desirable species that were still hanging on in those streams. But we also sampled stream segments where there was no ATV use. There we found much greater species diversity and desirable recreational species like spotted bass. So we knew there was an issue with heavy ATV use.” Working with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, rules and regulations were adopted to prohibit ATV use in these streams after the sampling was done. The result appears to be the return of quality stream habitat and desirable fish species in those areas affected by ATV use.

THE PUBLIC’S HELP A great diversity of stream types, habitats and geographic areas are represented in the system. From large rivers like the Ouachita River in north central Louisiana to fast run-ning, upland streams, complete with water-falls, like Kisatchie Bayou in Natchitoches Par-ish and stream systems like the Tchefuncte River and its tributaries in St. Tammany Parish, all are unique and worth preserving for the benefit of future generations of Louisianians. Rivers, streams and bayous can be nomi-nated for inclusion in the Scenic Rivers Sys-tem by local legislators. Once nominated, LDWF will conduct a study on the stream and

A diversity of rivers, plant and wildlife make up Louisiana’s Scenic Rivers.


determine if it meets the qualifying criteria. If it does, the LDWF Secretary could recommend it for inclusion. Balkum said the studies are painstaking. The streams are surveyed to make sure the minimum criteria is met. Public hearings are held so the public can let its will be known be-fore the stream is included in the system. “The process is a careful vetting of these waterbodies,” Balkum said. “We don’t want an urban stream that is fully developed and concreted. And our public hearings are vitally important because we don’t want to ram anything down any-one’s throat. These designations come with regulation. Local landowner support is always key to a successful nomination.” LDWF certainly wants the public to enjoy these waterbod-ies. But there can be challenges, including access and working with commercial operators who mine adjacent to the rivers for sand and gravel. Sand and gravel mining is something that is carefully monitored by LDWF on the Scenic Rivers. “That’s especially true throughout the Florida Parishes,” Balkum said. “We try to work with those operators so that they can mine for those resources while at the same time preserve the character of the streams. We try to retain and conserve buffers so those activities aren’t seen by paddlers and recreational users. We certainly want to protect the stream bank and riparian habitat. We want to keep a system stream from realigning or capturing an excavated pit. In our experience, both can coexist when adequate forested buffers and other consideration are provided.” Balkum said one of the pushes in recent years is working with local communities and Louisiana’s Department of Trans-portation and Development to develop recreational access. “That can be difficult because of litter, upkeep and liabil-ity issues at access points,” Balkum said. “But safe paddling

and boating access to these scenic streams is something the public wants. And we’ll keep working with partners to try to expand these.” There are many ways for the public to enjoy these beau-tiful streams, rivers and bayous. LDWF encourages everyone to visit them, paddle, fish, sightsee and bring along a camera to capture the natural beauty. By doing so, you can develop a genuine appreciation for their integral roles in the way and quality of life in Louisiana. LDWF wants the public to take part in the celebration as well. Use the #MyScenicRiver hashtag whenever posting to social media any photos, video or other media while out and about in the Scenic River System. The public is also encour-aged to submit photos taken on any of the designated Loui-siana Scenic Rivers into the 50th anniversary photography contest. Entries can be submitted until Aug. 1.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• To learn more about Scenic Rivers, go to www.wlf.la.gov/page/scenic-rivers.

• For more information about the 50th anniversary event, go to www.wlf.la.gov/news/ldwf-to-celebrate-50-years-of-louisiana-natural-and-scenic-rivers-system-in-2020.

• For information about the Scenic River Photo Contest, go to www.wlf.la.gov/page/myscenicriver.

The purpose of the Scenic Rivers System is to preserve, protect, develop, reclaim and enhance many of the state’s free-flowing streams.


Tstory by SHERRY MORTON, LDWF Public Information

Bussey Brake WMA A Long Time In The Making But Public Will Enjoy The Improvements

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is close to finalizing an overhaul of the lake at the Bussey Brake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) - and the renovation project is making quite a splash in Morehouse Parish. “A lot of people are calling every day wanting to know the status of the project,” said Ryan Daniel, the District 2 In-land Fisheries Biologist Manager for LDWF who has managed the project since its inception. “The whole town of Bastrop is buzzing with excitement.” The WMA features a 2,200-acre freshwater lake and 400 acres of surrounding forest land. The waterbody was origi-nally constructed in the mid-1950s by International Paper to serve as an alternative water source for the mill. The paper mill always allowed fishing in the lake. “It was a very good fishery from the 60s through the 80s, though the fishing had declined in years prior to the renova-tion,” Daniel said. When the paper mill closed in 2010, the company sub-sequently donated the reservoir to LDWF. In 2013, the Loui-siana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission designated the area as the Bussey Brake Wildlife Management Area. LDWF went

to work developing a plan to renovate the reservoir in order to make improvements that would benefit the public. In 2016, LDWF began the renovation project. The first step was to drain the lake. Doing this allowed for removal of the existing fish population, which was made up of an over-abundance of rough fish such as carp and buffalo. It also al-lowed the bottom of the lake to dry out, thereby improving fishery conditions. “A lot of times the old lakes have muck built up on the bot-tom,” Daniel said. “This doesn’t provide for a good spawning habitat. When you allow sunshine to reach the lake bottom, it dries it out and improves the habitat once the lake gets refilled.” Once the lake was drained, construction began on sev-eral renovation projects. Renovations have taken longer than expected, as LDWF has encountered quite a few challenges throughout the process, particularly with the pumping sta-tion, which is located in Bayou Bartholomew. “In March 2016, right before we were about to begin construction on the boat lanes, there was an all-time record flood in that area,” Daniel said. “Several feet of water got into the lake bottom, and we had to drain it all over again. That set the construction start date back several months.

CATCHING A BRAKE


“Floodwater also impacted the pumping station and the old pump motor was damaged, requiring a new pump to be purchased and constructed on site. Despite such, all phases of construction were completed in late 2019, and we started the process of refilling the lake. “And this year (2020), just as we were preparing to open the lake, water again got into the pumping station, causing us to cease pumping (which is necessary to refill the lake) and make preparations to remove the motor. Luckily, we ended up not having to take it out.” Though there have been several challenges along the way, Daniel said he believes it will be worth the wait. “When Bussey Brake reopens to the public, they are going to be excited,” Daniel said. “It won’t be anything they will recognize when they get out there. It will be like fishing a brand new lake again. In addition to the construction im-provements, many fairly large trees have grown in the lake and it looks like beautiful fish habitat.” The renovations are nearly all complete and LDWF is in the process of refilling the lake. LDWF plans to re-open the property to the public when the water levels reach the “man-agement pool stage,” which is approximately 100 feet mean sea level (MSL). This will allow for safe boat launches and nav-igation, as well as the use of the newly installed fishing piers. The department will give ample notice to the public prior to the opening date. When the lake is re-opened, fishing regulations will be different than the statewide regulations. The purpose of these regulations, which were announced at the February Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting, is to protect the young fishery from being overharvested, and ensure that the population has a chance to expand and flourish in the lake. Details about the regulations for the WMA:• Bass will have a five-fish daily creel limit (state limit is 10).

Anglers will be allowed to keep one bass over 16 inches long, but the rest will be limited to a 16-inch maximum length.

• Crappie will have a 25-fish daily creel limit, with a 10-inch minimum length.

• Bream (bluegill and red-ear sunfish) will have a 50-fish daily creel, with no size restrictions.

• Rod and reel will be the only fishing gear allowed at the WMA; no other types of gear, such as trot lines or nets, will be allowed.

Since it is a WMA, all the standard WMA regulations will apply. Visitors will have to check in and fill out a self-clearing permit at a kiosk before they visit the lake. (Please note that Bussey Brake is not currently listed as a selection on the WMA app. It will be added at a later date, when the app is updated.) In addition, visitors will need to ensure they are properly li-censed. For more information about license and permit re-quirements, visit www.wlf.la.gov/page/wmarefugeconserva-tion-area-licenses-and-permits.

One of the steps in renovation of Bussey Brake was to drain the lake and work to improve the habitat and infrastructure.


• Improved fisheries. LDWF began stocking the lake with fish in 2017 and will continue stocking it until the lake reaches its carrying capacity and the fish are reproducing on their own. Fish being stocked in the lake include largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and red-ear sunfish.

• Boat lanes. The Bussey Brake lake is full of stumps. The new boat lanes will guide boaters through a stump-free path, allowing for faster and safer navigation. ͳ “Before, there were never any marked lanes, so people

just had to idle around slowly and carefully,” Daniel said. “But now, we have cut big wide lanes through the stump field, and have marked them so folks will be able to drive around safely and travel across the lake much quicker and safer than they could before.”

• A new mooring dock. This dock will be located next to the boat ramp, allowing people to tie off their boats while they park their vehicles.

• A new, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-accessible fishing pier. The two piers that were already in place will still be open to fishing as well.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONFor more information about the Bussey Brake

WMA, contact Ryan Daniel at [email protected] or 318-343-4044.

ENHANCEMENTS TO BUSSEY BRAKE WMA

• A wave break. The purpose of this large earth mound with a flat top is to protect the boat launch area. People will also be allowed to fish from the wave break.

• Improved lighting at the boat launch, fishing pier and mooring dock area.

• Improved parking. The parking lot is being expanded and improved with new gravel.

• Designated trail. The entire lake is surrounded by a ring levee. There will be an 8-mile trail atop the levee that sur-rounds the entire lake. Pedestrians, horses and bicycles will be allowed on the trail – but no motorized vehicles.

• Control structure improvements. Including general main-tenance and new debris grates to keep logs out.


Fishing Could Soon Become Official High School Sport in Louisiana story by SHERRY MORTON, LDWF Public Information

F Football. Baseball. Basketball. These are the things you probably think of when you hear high school sports. But there is a new sport that is making a splash in high schools - fishing. In Louisiana, the sport has been steadily growing in pop-ularity for a number of years. Connor Rushing, a senior at Central High School in Baton Rouge, is just one of many students who has opted to focus on fishing over traditional sports. “I used to play baseball, but I ended up quitting so I could fish full-time,” Rushing said. “I knew I couldn’t do both. I en-joy the atmosphere of fishing as a sport. Everybody is friends at the weigh-ins, and if you don’t do well, it’s nobody’s fault but your own - well, and your partner’s.” High school fishing in Louisiana really started catching on as a sport when the Louisiana B.A.S.S. (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society) Nation appointed retired Lutcher High School princi-pal Eugene “Gene” Hoover as the state youth director in 2012. “When I first started in this position, I think we had eight schools participating with about 30-something teams,” Hoover said. “But there has been a steady growth since we started. Today, we have more than 900 student anglers statewide.” Hoover said he believes fishing as a high school sport has immense benefits for students. Similar to other sports, many schools require minimum grade levels for students to be eli-gible to participate. “If fishing had been around as a sport when I was in high school, it would have helped me make better grades,” he said. “In the years I have done this, so many parents have

ANGLING FOR ATTENTION

come up to tell me, ‘Mr. Gene, thank you for doing this. It has helped my son; it has kept him off the streets; it has helped his grades improve.’” However, not every school has been easy to get on board. Some principals have been reluctant to agree to a high school fishing team. “I would say out of the 64 parishes, we have about 58 of them who are ‘all in’ on fishing,” Hoover said. “A few of them are still waiting on the Louisiana High School Athletics Asso-ciation (LHSAA) certification before they allow the kids to fish for their school.”

ENHANCEMENTS TO BUSSEY BRAKE WMA


a lot of times when one angler graduates or moves on, then a younger one learns to step up and assume that leadership role.” Perret said fishing also provides opportunities for stu-dents that they wouldn’t necessarily get by participating in other types of team sports. “Many of the fishing teams fish tournaments from boats,” he said. “An adult coach must be in the boat to drive, observe and teach - but all other decisions are made by the kids. That is a unique aspect of the sport.” This not only gives the students one-on-one bonding time with an adult, but it also provides them experience in making independent decisions, Perret said. Many others wholeheartedly support fishing as a team sport. Billy Bosio said that his son, Chris, approached him one day with the idea of starting a fishing club at his school – Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies in Metairie. “My son loves fishing,” Billy said. “We have been fishing the New Orleans City Park tournament every year since he was 5 or 6 years old. One day, he approached me and said he wanted to start a fishing team at school, and I said, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’” Chris said he came up with the idea because he wanted to make more friends inside the school. “Most people I knew who fished were outside my school,” he said. “When I started asking around to see how many others at my school would be interested in a fishing club, I found that a lot of people were.” The first time Chris approached the school with the idea, he was told no.

LHSAA Assistant Executive Director Adam MacDowell said that a 2018 survey of the organization’s 404 member princi-pals showed that 174 would adopt the sport if LHSAA adopts it - and 82 of those schools already have a fishing club or team. In 2019, LHSAA approved bass fishing as a trial sport. “We have a bylaw stating that we have to have at least 80 schools participate [in the tournaments] in order for a sport to become officially adopted,” MacDowell said. “It also has to get passed by our membership at our January annual convention.” Unfortunately, LHSAA had to cancel three of the four high school regional tournaments – which were scheduled for March - as well as the first official LHSAA state competi-tion - which was scheduled for April – because of the corona-virus pandemic. MacDowell said he is looking forward to when the orga-nization adopts fishing as an official sport. “We are always looking at ways to offer student athletes another way to get involved in their high school,” he said. Alex Perret, Inland Fisheries operations manager at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), is an avid angler and tournament competitor. “We didn’t have high school fishing when I was in high school,” he said. “It wasn’t even a thing.” As a graduate student in fisheries science at Mississippi State University, he worked with the school to charter a fish-ing team. Though the team didn’t officially fish its first tourna-ment until the year after he graduated, he said he is happy it is now established. He strongly supports fishing as a team sport. “Having a team gives you some structure,” he said. “You get paired up, so you have to learn how to work as a team. And


“But I told him: ‘Don’t ever take no for an answer when it is your passion,’” Billy said. Chris and Billy continued to discuss the idea with the school administration, who eventually agreed to a fishing club - with the stipulation that the fishing would not be done from boats. That was three years ago. Since then, the club has grown into a huge success. “I started the club because I thought I would have more people to do tournaments with,” Chris said. “But it turns out it is actually me teaching a lot of younger kids to fish. And I love it. A lot of kids aren’t athletic, but this gives them a rea-son to be outdoors.” In 2019, the Haynes High School fishing team won the Battle for the Bass - an LDWF-sponsored youth tournament that is held during the Annual Big Bass Fishing Rodeo and Fishtival at New Orleans City Park. Chris plans to continue fishing in clubs wherever he at-tends college, and even plans to focus his college career on the conservation field. “I love fishing, and I want to make sure we can keep it around as long as possible,” he said. Alex Heintze, a resident of Denham Springs, believes that being able to participate in a high school team can be a tre-mendous help as young anglers learn to navigate the world of fishing tournaments. Though Heintze started fishing at the age of 10, he didn’t have anyone in his family who fished. “Practically everything I know was self-taught from watching videos and watching other people fish,” he said. “I never had somebody to take me fishing and truly just teach me everything.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONFor more information, visit highschoolfishing.org or search for the “Louisiana High School Bass Fishing” page on Facebook

When he was a sophomore, Hein-tze and his partner Justin Watts won the Bassmasters High School Champion-ship in 2015. He says that jumpstarted a lot of things for him, including being able to start a fishing club at his high school. He has aspirations to become a pro-fessional angler, and he is well on his way with approximately 15 sponsors. He encourages stu-dents interested in fishing to join or start a high school fishing team. “Not everybody is fit for football, baseball, etc.” he said. “That’s how I was. Just get out there and go fishing.”

12 Louisiana Conservationist | Summer 2020Illustrations by Duane Raver

COMMON OFFSHORE FISH OF LOUISIANA

ATLANTIC BONITOSarda sarda

GREATER AMBERJACKSeriola dumerili

LITTLE TUNNYEuthynnus alletteratus

GREAT BARRACUDASphyraena barracuda

BLUE MARLINMakaira nigricans

SWORDFISHXiphias gladius

ALMACO JACKSeriola rivoliana

WHITE MARLINKajikia albidus

WAHOOAcanthocybium solandri


COMMON OFFSHORE FISH OF LOUISIANA

ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNAThunnus thynnus

YELLOWFIN TUNAThunnus albacares

DOLPHINCoryphaena hippurus

SAILFISHIstiophorus platypterus

BIGEYE TUNAThunnus obesus

BLACKFIN TUNAThunnus atlanticus


BAYOU D’ARBONNE LAKE

SPOTLIGHT

SIZE: 15,000 acres

MAXIMUM DEPTH: 35 feet

PUBLIC PIERS AVAILABLE: 2 (at State Park)

PUBLIC BOAT LAUNCHES AVAILABLE: 12

ARTIFICIAL REEFS: 6COMMON FISHING SPECIES: Largemouth bass, crappie, channel catfish, bream (bluegill and redear sunfish).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: D’Arbonne is known for its great crappie fishing and has attracted national attention. Multiple tournament trails are making stops, including state and national championships.

A State Park (Lake D’Arbonne State Park) and multiple private rental cabins are available.

ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE:

SCUBA DIVING FISHING BOATING PHOTOGRAPHY BOAT LAUNCHES BIRDING

HIKING HUNTING WATER SKIING SWIMMING CAMPING PIER FISHING








HIKING HUNTING WATER SKIING SWIMMING CAMPING PIER FISHINGSCUBA DIVING FISHING BOATING PHOTOGRAPHY BOAT LAUNCHES BIRDING


BIG LAKE WMA

FUN FACT

D’Arbonne Lake is the largest lake in northeast LA.



GOLFING COMMERICAL FISHING CABIN RENTALS BIKING HORSEBACK RIDING

SHOOTING RANGE




SHOOTING RANGE




SHOOTING RANGE

BAYOU D’ARBONNE LAKE


Big Lake WMA and Tensas National Wildlife Refuge are home to a thriving population of Louisiana black bear. Reported sightings are steadily increasing, and black bear research is ongoing in this entire area.

BIG LAKEWILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

SPOTLIGHTWATERBODY & WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

BAYOU D’ARBONNE LAKEFor more information contact: 318-343-4044368 CenturyLink DriveMonroe, LA 71203www.wlf.la.gov/resources/category/freshwater-inland-fish/inland-waterbody-management-plans

BIG LAKE WMAFor more information contact: 318-343-4044www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/big-lake

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ACREAGE: 19,231

LOCATION: Franklin, Tensas, Madison parishes. Big Lake WMA is located 12 miles east of Gilbert. Major access routes include Louisiana Highways 4 and 610. LDWF maintains a system of all-weather gravel roads and numerous ATV trails that provide access to area users.

OWNER: LDWF

DESCRIPTION: The forested area of Big Lake WMA consists of relatively closed overstory canopy with a fairly dense understory. Major tree species include nuttall, water, willow, and overcup oak; American and cedar elm; sweetgum; bitter pecan; honey locust; sugarberry; willow; sycamore; persimmon; red maple; box elder; and cypress. The understory includes rattan, Rubus sp., Crataegus sp., swamp dogwood, Vitis sp., deciduous holly, elderberry, Smilax sp., baccharis, switchcane, poison ivy, and many herbaceous species.

POPULAR GAME SPECIES: The most popular game species on Big Lake WMA are white-tailed deer, squirrels, rabbits, and turkey. There are youth-only deer and turkey seasons. Boat launches are available on most of the area’s lakes. Recreational fishing for largemouth bass, crappie, sunfish and catfish, as well as crawfishing and frogging are popular with area users.

HOW TO ENJOY: There are no public camping areas on Big Lake WMA; however, campsites are available to the public for a fee on adjacent private property. The 1-mile Trusler Lake Hiking Trail is located on the interior of Big Lake WMA. Several walking trails follow pipeline rights-of-way.

ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE:


HIKING HUNTING WATER SKIING SWIMMING CAMPING PIER FISHINGSCUBA DIVING FISHING BOATING PHOTOGRAPHY BOAT LAUNCHES BIRDING






GOLFING




SHOOTING RANGE




SHOOTING RANGE




With Natural Resource Damage Assessment, or NRDA, funds from the $5 billion Deepwater Horizon Oil Settlement, Queen Bess Island went from having only about five acres of available nesting habitat to about 36 acres. “Even back during the spill, I thought we were going to have a day where we could sit back and look at what hap-pened and see a much different, much better place,” said Baker, LDWF’s Coastal Resource Scientist Manager for Wild-life. “There were several days being on that island during the spill, collecting birds and thinking, ‘How can these impacts ever be truly restored?’ I have long looked forward to the day we would be standing on the island with a true restoration success story under our feet. “But it was bittersweet. The funding opportunity from this allows us to do something very meaningful for a long time into the future. That’s good. At the same time, you remember all the lost wildlife from the spill and wonder if the money will ever truly restore all the impacts. And that’s a question I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to truly answer. But hopefully our restoration efforts will exceed expectations and exceed the impacts realized from the spill. The funding we have is a great opportunity to do some meaningful restoration. It is impera-tive that we use every dollar wisely.” The impacts were substantial and probably can’t be truly quantified. An unfathomable 4.9 million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico because of the disaster during 87 days. All five Gulf Coast states were impacted but certainly none more than Louisiana.

T Todd Baker has a positive disposition but considering the circumstances in the spring of 2010 in coastal Louisiana his idea that Queen Bess Island could be restored, even be made better, seemed delusional. The island, located in Barataria Bay near Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish, was an oil-covered mess, a catastrophe for wildlife. When the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the largest man-made disaster in American history, occurred on April 20, 2010, Louisiana’s coastline was in the cross hairs. Oil from the spill seemed to seep into every nook and cranny in the central and southeastern part of coastal Louisiana. Queen Bess Island was near the epicenter. The island is a key colonial water bird nesting colony, in-cluding hatching 15-20 percent of brown pelicans in Louisi-ana in a given year. But many of the birds were slathered in oil. The oil covered the entire perimeter rocks that were de-signed to protect the island and the oil even penetrated the interior of the island. It was one of the most photographed and videoed areas during the disaster and the pictures gave a microcosm of the depth of this cataclysmic event. But as he and other Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologists gathered oiled pelicans, birds and other wildlife for rescue, Baker truly believed better days were ahead. In February of 2020, almost 10 years after the oil spill, Baker proved to be right. Queen Bess Island was restored and a celebration that included Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and other state dignitaries was held on the once unsightly oiled island where so much carnage was inflicted.

LDWF’s Actions During, After Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 10 Years Ago Help In Mitigating The Disasterstory by TREY ILES, LDWF Public Information

RECOVERING, RESTORING


More than 5,000 birds, dead and alive, were collected in Louisiana because of the disaster. This comprised approxi-mately 65 percent of the bird recoveries throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Brown pelicans made up 22 percent of all recover-ies. Data collected suggests the impact on birds was between 51,000-84,000 and more than likely on the high end of that scale. That doesn’t begin to include the toll on Louisiana’s off-shore and estuarine fisheries, which can probably never be calculated. The spill formed an oil slick that was more than 57,000 square miles in the Gulf. An estimated 1,100 miles of shore-line was polluted. “You had every assemblage of wildlife being hit,” Baker said. “Every basin throughout coastal Louisiana was being hit. Fishermen and recreational hunters were told they couldn’t go fishing or hunting. To restore something with the impacts was such a large scale. And it wasn’t just Louisiana. The five Gulf Coast states were hit. It was hard to realize at the time what restoration would look like at that scale.” It took nearly seven years to reach a dollar settlement but when it was finally agreed upon, careful and thoughtful plan-ning by many partners, including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, was made to mitigate the disaster. Already, a lot of good has come and will come from the settlement money. A total of 50 projects in Louisiana have been identified, including Queen Bess Island’s restoration.

Some are in the works with others in the planning stage. Though the magnitude of the damage from the oil spill can never be measured in dollars and the resources lost never replaced, progress on restoring what can be has been substantial as the 10-year anniversary of the disaster arrives. Dubbed the Louisiana Restoration Area, the projects focus on restoring wetlands, coastal and nearshore habitats, restor-ing water quality and habitat and replenishing and protect-ing wildlife and marine resources. There will also be projects to provide and enhance recreational opportunities as well as restore habitats on federal lands in the state. The $5 billion Louisiana will receive through the next ap-proximately 12 years is considered natural resource damage funding to restore oil spill impacts. A little more than $4 bil-lion is earmarked to restore and conserve coastal habitat. Of that, a little more than $220 million is dedicated spe-cifically for bird restoration. The settlement money will also go toward sea turtle restoration and marine mammals, sub-merged aquatic vegetation and oysters just to name a few. Also included is $38 million to restore for recreational loss-es during spill. Some of those projects will be to add boat launches and camping opportunity to LDWF Wildlife Man-agement Areas and Louisiana’s state parks. It’s an ambitious list but one that is now underway to at-tempt to restore the damage that began on that April night in 2010.

LDWF personnel worked long hours, days and months in documenting and recovering oiled wildlife from the spill.


THE STORM BEGINS LDWF personnel are adept at handling oil spills. It’s comes with the territory as Louisiana is one of the nation’s top oil and gas producers. As much as you wish they weren’t, spills are inevitable in the state. Baker and his team knew the drill. But this one was different. Much different. “There was no playbook for this,” Baker said. “Most of the plans that were in place were found to be insufficient for the spill that we were facing. Fortunately, we had worked many oil spills before the BP Oil Spill. Our staff was pretty knowl-edgeable. However, we had never experienced anything of this magnitude.” Baker, LDWF biologists Laura Carver and Cassidy Lejeune were actually in the field in Plaquemines Parish working an-other spill when word of the Deepwater Horizon explosion came out. A command center was established in Houma and they moved there immediately as LDWF was one of the first responders. Former LDWF biologist director Mike Carloss, who now works for Ducks Unlimited as its Director of Conservation Pro-grams, Southwest, was among the first to arrive in Houma for what would be a near yearlong stint in responding to the disaster. Carloss, now based in Lafayette, said he occasionally still drives by the command center in Houma. When he does, the memories come racing back. Because the Deepwater Horizon rig was so far offshore, the oil gushing from the well didn’t arrive to Louisiana’s coast for a couple of days. Carloss, a Louisiana native, compared it to waiting on a hurricane. “It’s like the storm coming,” said Carloss, who worked for LDWF for about 28 years before retiring and moving on to DU in 2014. “You know it’s coming. And then all of a sudden, those outer bands of oil start hitting the coastal areas. And

it just continued to different areas at different times, some-times the same times in different areas. And when it ramped up, it kind of got overwhelming at times. There was often this feeling of helplessness. I can honestly say those feelings never really leave you.” The oil worked its way north, touching Pass a Loutre at the mouth of the Mississippi River first, then the Chande-leurs. Finally it made its way toward Grand Isle, snaking into Louisiana’s treasured coastal marshes and estuaries. “I was able to direct some of the recovery between Pass a Loutre, Grand Isle and Raccoon Island,” Carloss said. “I had the ability of moving where the oil was heading and to assist LDWF staff already stationed there. When it hit Queen Bess badly we were doing rescue operations. I recall a guy from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who was from California, and a few technicians and I got up in the island’s interior nesting area. “When we went into the lagoon and climbed up into the mangroves, it was just a colony of heavily oiled and many dead birds. Just, I don’t know, seemed like hundreds of heav-ily oiled pelicans. Young birds sitting on nests. It was depress-ing to say the least. And we were wondering, how do we best handle this.” LDWF was a vital part of the cleanup and what was known as the Incident Command Team, which was made up of gov-ernment agencies headed by the U.S. Coast Guard . What set apart LDWF in the response, however, was no group knew the Louisiana landscape like it did. The passion with which LDWF personnel served during the oil spill response was unparalleled, Baker and Carloss said. They worked long hours, days, weeks, months that bled into a year. “Our ability to communicate as a team was important to the success of the response,” Baker said. “Each person in the


field had a radio they could communicate with the wildlife branch at the Houma Command Center instantly. Communi-cation from the top to the bottom was a simple push of a button. LDWF’s passage of information was unparalleled dur-ing the incident. It allowed the Department to serve as a true indicator to Incident Command on the severity of oiling and provide real time updates, observations, and needs for our wetlands and wildlife. Baker said because this was an offshore spill, a different game plan had to be devised. But the spill was so massive that it overwhelmed the Coast Guard and BP’s efforts to pro-tect land and wildlife. As the oil was heading in, LDWF biologists and techni-cians started making runs along the coast in boats and planes to take inventory of where there were large concentrations of wildlife such as colonies, popular loafing areas, feeding areas that were vulnerable. “We were able to get an inventory early on before the spill hit and work with BP and the Coast Guard to start pro-tecting the assets before the oil came in,” Baker said. “In the-ory, we were able to respond before the oil came in. But what we found out very quickly was the BP response effort was not up to par and the recommended protection measures did not get up before the oil came in. And we found the ability for the responders to maintain those booms and other protections was severely lacking.” In essence, they were swallowed in the gigantic, quick moving oil slick. Protecting was only part of the task. Documenting oiled wildlife and attempting to rescue birds and other wildlife and clean it was another spoke in the wheel. And it was, Baker said, a daunting task.

“Fortunately, we had department biologists and techni-cians who came to the table willing to work every single day,” Baker said. “We were able to stage biological staff in every single basin. Each basin is different so how we did response to each basin was handled differently. Some places, we did patrols daily in the same areas. In other places that were re-mote and hard to get to, like in the Biloxi Marsh, they would patrol a different area every day. The ladies and guys in this department did a great job of responding to a very remote, very hard to access coast in very hot and foul conditions. “The ability of our staff to have meaningful input on the response effort was extraordinary. No other organization had that capability. And when it came time to pull in all the booms and infrastructure we were able to have real time feed into the command center that was second to none.” The well was capped July 15, 2010. But the work was far from over for responders. Baker and other LDWF personnel noticed that even though the well was capped, the number of oiled birds reported continue to grow. Weary, BP and USCG responders were ready to pull back, figuring because no more oil was coming out of the ground that wildlife wouldn’t be af-fected as much. But that wasn’t the case. “It was a fight we had long after the spill,” Baker said. “We kept trying to explain that as long as there is oil in the environment this is going to continue to impact birds. Now we’re moving into the fall and those numbers of birds in coastal Louisiana are only going to increase as migration starts. To have those numbers spiking when everyone else was de-escalating was an interesting time.” It was again where LDWF biologists proved their mettle, Baker said, as they continued to do surveillance, find oiled birds and bring them in for rescue and cleaning. “We captured more birds in Louisiana than the rest of the states combined,” Baker said. “That’s keeping in mind how remote and difficult it is to reach some of our coast. Our guys had to go out in boats and look in every nook and cranny, marsh, mudflat, everything to find these birds. It was challenging and they came through extraordinarily.”

UNDER THE WATER That was one part of it, the part you could see. But the oil was also affecting fisheries resources as well. More than a third of federal waters in the Gulf were closed to fishing dur-ing the peak of the spill due to fears of contamination. The Louisiana coast was closed to fishing as well and it did great harm to Louisiana’s commercial seafood industry. Perhaps hardest hit was the oyster industry. Though fish and sea mammals were certainly adversely affected, they had some defense in that they could swim away from the spill. Oysters, however, were stuck. Brady Carter, LDWF’s Coastal Resource Scientist Manager for Fisheries, said the oil spill was a catastrophic injury to the oyster industry and it may never fully recover. A total of $40 million was allocated to public oyster beds as part of the set-

The goal of capturing the impacted wildlife was to clean then eventually release them back into the wild.


tlement. But, he said, it’s difficult to quantify the loss incurred to oysters during and after the spill. “In the intertidal area, the oyster damage was really big,” said Carter, who oversees fisheries restoration from the spill for LDWF. “How much we lost is hard to measure due to the nature of oysters. Each generation requires the shells of their ancestors to settle/grow on, this cycle maintains functioning oyster reefs. If any part of this cycle is impacted eventually there will be consequences when reefs cannot maintain their own height naturally while erosion-induced sedimentation of water bodies is steadily increasing. We’ve seen some issues on both sides of the Mississippi River. It’s just magnified the demise of a resource that was already struggling and it may not ever come back to what is was in those impacted areas. “It makes you second guess yourself constantly on where to start. The real hard part is trying to put it back efficiently with available resources, especially considering how dynamic coastal Louisiana is. What Mother Nature designed and built through eons, man had begun to disassemble and then this happened and pressed fast-forward…. Where do you start? Everything in shambles.”

LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD Carter, a St. Bernard Parish native, was on the front lines during the spill, working for the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources at the time. He, like Baker and Carloss, re-members the long hours and how sad it was to watch the oil infiltrate Louisiana’s cherished coast. “With the high tide, the oil would go further back into the marsh,” Carter said. “I spent a lot of time doing shoreline work and it’s almost impossible to describe the damage I saw. The projects that have started and we have coming up will help. But, being from Louisiana, it’s something you wished had never happened.” Rescue efforts finally scaled down by April 2011. As the anniversary comes, Carloss said he has vivid memories of the event and being exhausted by the time it ended. He said it was a time of great sacrifice for many at LDWF. The long work meant time away from family and other things they enjoyed. “Our lives were pretty nuts for about a year,” Carloss said. “A year of madness. Then Todd and I started working on res-toration plans. We had already talked about restoration prior to that but then were able to change it up.” Baker has transitioned to his current job with LDWF that oversees many of the projects in the restoration plan. As he does that, he said he remembers most every day the work done by LDWF staff during the spill. “We had staff from every program and every discipline working together including our clerical staff,” Baker said. “It wasn’t easy. Our guys and gals pushed through all the adver-sity thrown our way, heat, bad weather, long hours, whatever. I can’t be more pleased with how our department came to-gether and worked together like it did. I’ve never seen it be-fore and I don’t know if I’ll ever see it again.”

RESTORE AND CONSERVE HABITATWetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats $4,009,062,700

Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands

$50,000,000

Early Restoration (through Phase IV) $259,625,700

RESTORE WATER QUALITYNutrient Reduction (nonpoint source) $20,000,000

REPLENISH AND PROTECT LIVING COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCES

Sea Turtles $10,000,000

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation $22,000,000

Marine Mammals $50,000,000

Birds $148,500,000

Early Restoration Birds $71,937,300

Oysters $26,000,000

Early Restoration Oyster $14,874,300

PROVIDE AND ENHANCE RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities

$38,000,000

Early Restoration of Recreational Loss $22,000,000

MONITORING, ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT, ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT

Monitoring and Adaptive Management $225,000,000

Administrative Oversight and Comprehensive Planning

$33,000,000

Total NRD Funding for Louisiana Restoration Area $5,000,000,000

ALLOCATION OF LOUISIANA RESTORATION AREA FUNDS

This table shows the restoration goals and types for the Louisiana Restoration Area.

Chart courtesy of www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.


E Every vehicle operator knows and understands the driv-ing while intoxicated laws. They are familiar with such acro-nyms as DWI, DUI or even in some states OWI. These acro-nyms are short for operating a vehicle while intoxicated or impaired, driving a vehicle under the influence or operating a vehicle while intoxicated or impaired. Most drivers are also very aware at the steep penalties associated for getting caught operating a vehicle while intoxi-cated or impaired. However, some people are surprised to find out that there are acronyms such as BUI and even more shocked to learn that the same penalties apply for both BUIs and DUIs. A BUI stands for Boating Under the Influence. People caught Boating Under the Influence will face the same penal-ties as those found guilty of a DWI, DUI or OWI. In Louisiana, a DWI and BUI can be issued to anyone op-erating a moving vessel or vehicle while impaired. First of-fense DWI and BUI carries a $300 to $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail. Anyone cited for a DWI or BUI on the water or on the road will lose his or her driver’s license and boating privileges for the specified time ordered by the judge in the case. Also, each offense of operating a vehicle or vessel while intoxicated counts toward the total number of DWI crimes whether they happened on the water or road. “A lot of people understand the danger and penalties as-sociated with driving a vehicle while impaired,” said LDWF En-forcement Division Major Rachel Zechenelly, the state’s boat-ing law administrator. “However, we try to make sure every boater knows that the same law, penalties and dangers apply on the water as well if there is someone operating a vessel while impaired. That includes losing operating a vessel and driving a vehicle privileges if caught with a BUI or DWI.”

One of the LDWF Enforcement Division’s main missions is informing the public about maintaining safe boating prac-tices. The enforcement division accomplishes this mission by enforcing the state’s waterway rules and regulations on water patrols and conducting safe boating education courses. “We want people to have fun on the state’s waterways, but we want them to do it in a safe manner,” said Zechenelly. “A large component of maintaining safe boating practices is to have a sober operator. Having a sober operator is some-thing that is taught in our safe boating education classes and something agents are looking for while on patrol.” Alcohol can impair a boater’s judgment, balance, vision and reaction time. It can increase fatigue and susceptibility to the effects of cold-water immersion. Sun, wind, noise, vibra-tion and motion intensify the side effects of alcohol, drugs and some prescription medications. Nationwide, alcohol is the leading known contributing fac-tor in fatal boating incidents, causing 19 percent of all deaths on the water. Louisiana had 20 boating fatalities in 2019 with alcohol playing a role in five fatalities or 25 percent. One of the events that LDWF participates in yearly to help promote their BUI enforcement is the National Associa-tion of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) Operation Dry Water Weekend. Operation Dry Water began in 2009 and is a joint pro-gram involving participating states, NASBLA and the U.S. Coast Guard. More information is available at www.opera-tiondrywater.org. During the annual Operation Dry Water weekend, law enforcement officers will be on heightened alert for those violating BUI laws. In 2019, LDWF agents made nine BUIs cases during Op-eration Dry Water weekend from July 5-7. The 2020 Opera-tion Dry Water Weekend is slated for July 3-5 and once again LDWF enforcement agents will be participating. “Operation Dry Water is a great event as it gives us a chance to promote our sober operator message to the public,” said Zechenelly. “It also reminds boaters that we will be patrol-ling the waterways during the Fourth of July holiday to hope-fully motivate them to have a sober operator of the vessel.” In the 2018-19 fiscal year, LDWF agents issued 88 cita-tions for boating under the influence. LDWF also certified more than 7,400 citizens in the 2018-19 fiscal year in their boating education classes where the importance of having a sober operator of a vessel is taught.

Driving Under The Influence Penalties On The Water Mirror Those Of The Road

SOBER BOATERstory by ADAM EINCK, LDWF Public Information


ON THE ROAD OR THE WATER, YOU’RE HEADED NOWHERE FAST

WHILE IMPAIRED.WHILE IMPAIRED.WHILE IMPAIRED.

OPERATIONDRYWATER.ORG


LOUISIANA ON YOUR PLATE

Smoked Shrimp Dip1 lb. cooked, peeled, deveined Louisiana Shrimp8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened2 Tbsp. Celery, finely chopped2 Tbsp. Sweet Pickle Relish1 clove Garlic, minced2 tsp. Onion, grated1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice1 tsp. Horseradish1 tsp. Dry Mustard1/2 tsp. Salt1/4 tsp. Worchestershire Sauce

1/4 tsp. Liquid Smoke2 Tbsp. Parsley, choppedHot Sauce to taste

Grind shrimp in food processer until finely minced.

Combine all ingredients except parsley. Chill for several hours.

Garnish with parsley and serve with crackers or crostini.

Shrimp and Corn Chowder1/2 lb. Bacon3 Tbsp. Bacon Fat2 cups Onions, finely chopped1 cup Celery, finely chopped1/2 cup Bell Pepper, finely chopped1/2 cup Carrots, grated1/2 Bay Leaf2 cups Potatoes, diced1/4 cup Water2 Tbsp. Flour4 cups Shrimp Stock1 can Cream Style Corn (16.5 oz.)1 can Low Fat Evaporated Milk (13 oz.)2 lbs. Louisiana Shrimp, cooked and peeled1 Tbsp. Salt1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper1/2 tsp. Black PepperHot Sauce to taste

Fry bacon, crumble and set aside. Reserve bacon fat.

Saute onions, celery, bell pepper and carrots in 3 Tbsp. bacon fat.

Add bay leaf, potatoes and water. Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir well and add shrimp stock. Bring to boil.

Add corn, milk, shrimp, salt, cayenne and black pepper and hot sauce. Simmer over low fire for approximately 30 minutes.

Photo by Shutterstock

ON THE ROAD OR THE WATER, YOU’RE HEADED NOWHERE FAST

WHILE IMPAIRED.WHILE IMPAIRED.WHILE IMPAIRED.

OPERATIONDRYWATER.ORG

Shrimp Celeste2 Tbsp. Cooking Oil2 Tbsp. Flour1 cup Onions, chopped1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or 2 cloves, minced)1/ cup Green Pepper, chopped1 can Stewed Tomatoes (14.5 oz.)1 tsp. Black Pepper1/4 cup Parsley, minced1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup2 cups Louisiana Shrimp, peeled and deveined1 Tbsp. Cognac3 cups Cooked Rice

Heat oil, add flour and stir until golden brown. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook until onions are tender.

Add parsley and mushroom soup and cook about 6 minutes more.

Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink and firm. Then stir in cognac and correct seasoning to taste.

Remove from fire and serve over beds of rice.

times gone by...A look back at the Conservationist’s past with an eye on the present


May-June

1988

Vol. 40 MAY-JUNE 1988 No. 3

On Silent Wings: The Owls of LouisianaBy John B. Tenney Jr.

Humans have long been fascinated to by owls. To Louisiana’s Tunica and Chitimacha Indians, the hooting of an owl signified impending doom or death. Use of the owl as a symbol goes back centuries before arrival of the first white men. Archeological findings at northeastern Louisiana’s Poverty Point site con-firm the existence of a culture which flourished and declined in the interval from 1200 B.C. to 200 B.C. Among the distinguishing features of this culture are the sophisticated stone polishing skills which linked them to cultures in Cen-tral America. These early Louisianians worked a variety of stones into polished amulets, charms, and plummets, many of which were shaped to resemble owls. This recurrent owl motif was sufficiently strong to enable archeologists, who found similar stone owls in Florida, to link the distant cultures to Poverty Point. In Louisiana, interest in the owl dates far into the past. The interest continues today. At Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, not far from Poverty Point, ornithologist Dr. Robert Hamilton, professor at LSU’s School of Fisheries, Forestry and Wildlife, is studying long term changes in resident owl populations. He uses recorded calls of barred owls and screech owls to elicit responses from roosting owls as he traverses a route of roadside stations. At Tensas, the most common owls are barred owls and screech owls, with barn owls and great horned owls being less common. Occasionally, visitors from the north, short-eared and long-eared owls, may appear. On good nights, Dr. Ham-

ilton may hear three different owls within three minutes at any given stop. This relates to an owl every quarter mile along his base route. You don’t have to be an expert bird water to identify owls. Distinctive characteristics make them easily recognizable. Primary features enabling iden-tification include large round eyes, common in all raptors or birds of prey, flat, somewhat dish-shaped faces, and upright, vertical postures. The owl’s eyes are well adapted for night hunting and its vision is significantly better than that of humans. At the same time, owls have little ability to move their eyes and must rely on turning the entire head. This capability is well developed and an owl can move its neck almost 270 degrees. It can also rotate its head from side to side, making one eye appear above the other. The owl’s beak, usually partially con-cealed by soft, downy facial feathers, is shorter and less powerful than that of eagles and hawks; consequently, it is less able to dissect its prey. It compensates for this lack of ability by bolting its food intact. Undigested remains of prey can-not be passed and the bones, claws, teeth feathers, beaks and other indigestible remains of its meal are regurgitated in the form of “owl pellets” or “cough balls.” Other owl characteristics are less easily observed. Hearing is well devel-oped as vision. Large, forwarded-facing ears are concealed behind facial feath-ers and are unrelated to the horns or tufts used as camouflage by some species. Ability to focus sound is enhanced by the shape of the facial disk, which acts as a reflector to focus sound waves. Under facial feathers the owl’s ears are asym-metrical, both in size and placement, an adaptation believed to significantly enhance ability to locate prey. The outer toe of most owls is reversible allowing them to perch with two toes in front, a capability they share with woodpeckers and parrots. On the ground, they walk rather than hop. Barred owls, screech owls, great horned owls and barn owls are found year-round in Louisiana. Winter visitors include the short-eared owl and the long-eared owl. In Louisiana’s southwestern corner and along the Gulf Coast, the ground-dwelling burrowing owl is a non-breeding visitor. Their call is easily remembered by the phrase, “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all.” This sound is easy to learn and to produce, even without an owl call. Because owls occasionally prey on wild turkey poults, turkey hunters sometimes use owl calls to provoke wild turkeys into gobbling and revealing themselves. Barred owls are large birds, ranging between 17 and 24 inches in height when mature.


times gone by...A look back at the Conservationist’s past with an eye on the present UNCOMMON OWLS

by ROBERT DOBBS and TREY ILES, LDWF

You’d figure that, with the ample amount of prey available in Louisiana, owls would have a strong foothold in the state. Indeed, there are 10 species of owls that have been documented and verified to occur in Louisiana and most state residents have actually seen the birds even though they are nocturnal and secretive. If you have seen one, chances are it was probably either the barn owl, eastern screech-owl, great horned owl or the barred owl. They are common and occur in the state year round. But six are considered uncommon or rare in Louisiana. The burrowing owl is considered rare but regular and the short-eared owl is deemed uncommon. The other four are labeled excep-tionally rare, including the flammulated owl, the snowy owl, the long-eared owl and the north-ern saw-whet owl. Greater study and observance would be helpful in determining just how rare these species are in Louisiana. Here’s a thumbnail look at these six owls which aren’t as frequently seen in Louisiana as the former four:

SHORT-EARED OWL• An open-country owl, typically occurring in tundra, marsh, and grassland, habitats, as well as

fallow agricultural fields.• Migratory across large range throughout northern hemisphere, breeding in mid-upper lati-

tudes and wintering farther south.• Winters in Louisiana, most commonly in rice fields and marsh habitats. • Throughout its range, including Louisiana, often occurs along with with the northern harrier,

a diurnal hawk, or marsh hawk.• Populations declining in North America.

BURROWING OWL• A charismatic bird of the prairies of the western Great Plains, as well as other open habitats in

intermountain western North America.• Elsewhere in the bird’s range and in habitats not hosting burrowing mammals, burrowing

owls often use manmade shelters like culverts and pipes.• Unique among North American owls, burrowing owls are active both day and night, and are

thus the most likely species of owl to be active during daylight hours.• Rarely occurs in Louisiana, but shows up occasionally during spring and fall migration and

the winter; dates range September - May. • Burrowing owls have occurred in many locales in Louisiana, but typically occur on the coast

itself - on the beach or among beach dunes of headlands and barrier islands• Frequency of occurrences in Louisiana have decreased over the past 40 years, similar to the

species’ overall population decline throughout its North American range over the same time period.

FLAMMULATED OWL• Another species of western North America, the flammulated owl is a bird of the mountains,

breeding primarily in mature ponderosa pine forest from southern British Columbia south into northwestern Mexico.

• Flammulated owl is a small, primarily insectivorous owl, closely related to screech-owls.• Migration in flammulated owl is poorly understood, and records of vagrant individuals during

fall in Louisiana represent intriguing anecdotal information related to its migration biology.• There are four verified Louisiana occurrences, including the first found near Baton Rouge in

January.

SNOWY OWL• This large, nearly all-white owl is one of the most distinctive owls in the world and an icon of

the arctic, with a circumpolar breeding range.• Migration ecology of snowy owls is poorly understood. Some owls remain on or near their

arctic breeding grounds during the winter, while some, probably mostly young birds, migrate south.

• There is only one documented record of a naturally-occurring snowy owl in Louisiana, from Shreveport in Dec. 1976 - Feb. 1977.

LONG-EARED OWL• In North America, long-eared owl occupies a band across central Canada, and throughout

much of the western U.S. • Migration ecology is poorly understood; the degree of migration and, hence, the species’ win-

ter distribution varies among years, presumably due to food availability, weather, and possibly other factors.

• The species rarely occurs as far south as the Gulf states.• In addition to a handful of inadequately described, undocumented, and/or unreviewed re-

cords, the Louisiana Bird Records Committee, a committee of the Louisiana Ornithological Society, has endorsed nine long-eared owl records in Louisiana based on evaluation of docu-mentation and/or detailed descriptions of birds.

• Those records range from November to March and have spanned the four corners of the state.

NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL• A common species that occurs in forest habitats across southern Canada and the northern

United States, as well as montane areas of the western United States.• The single, currently verified record for Louisiana is a specimen found dead on a road in Natchi-

toches Parish in January 1978. • Three or four additional records exist, but were not documented, preserved, or described ad-

equately enough for expert endorsement, or have not yet been reviewed by the Louisiana Bird Records Committee.

• Intriguingly, nocturnal banding efforts in northwestern Arkansas and in central Alabama have recently revealed that the species is a regular winter visitor in those areas, raising the question: might the species also occur more than we think in, say, the Kisatchie National Forest or other upland, forested areas in Louisiana during the winter months?

Louisiana Features 10 Species Of Owls But Six Are Considered Uncommon Or Rare In The State


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