This project will place cultch in relic reef areas of Louisiana public oyster seed grounds (POSG). Constructed sites include a 200-acre area on the Caillou Lake public oyster seed reservation (POSR) in Terrebonne Parish, and two approximately 100-acre sites on POSG in Drum Bay, St. Bernard Parish. The project will programmatically plan for inclusion of additional cultch plants within the footprints of other POSG or POSRs in the future.
This project will provide up to 10 years of operational funds for the Michael C. Voisin Oyster Hatchery in Grand Isle, Louisiana and support deployment monitoring of hatchery-produced larvae and spat. The facility is jointly operated by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and Louisiana State University (LSU) to produce oysters for use in rehabilitating public oyster areas (POA).
The project will develop a network of brood reefs that will serve as a spawning stock to improve and maintain oyster production on Louisiana’s Public Oyster Seed Grounds (POSG) and Public Oyster Seed Reservations (POSR). The first component of the brood reef project will establish four reefs east of the Mississippi River: two in the Lake Machais/Mozambique Point area and two in the Petit Pass/Bay Boudreaux area.
This project enhances recreational activities within the Barataria Preserve which is located within the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park in Jefferson Parish. The original project involved replacing and renovating the existing Visitor Center wooden boardwalk trail at the Preserve and placing new wayside exhibits on that trail. However, that project became prohibitively expensive and was revised to improve 2,490 ft of nearby dirt trails (Christmas Road and Ring Levee Trail) at a much lower cost per linear foot.
The Wetlands Center project involves the construction of a 3,000 square feet building that will promote and enhance the protection and management of wetland resources and the application of sound science to wetland management efforts through training and educational opportunities.
The Des Allemands Boat Launch project will construct a new boat launch on the east bank of the Bayou Des Allemands. The new boat launch will also include a gravel limestone access road from the highway, paved parking lot, four concrete launch ramps, wooden dock, fishing piers, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant walkway.
The Louisiana’s Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) provides valuable data for the nearshore habitats and resources targeted for Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) restoration, including coastal wetlands and habitats on Federally Managed Lands, and will help address restoration priorities described in the Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PDARP/PEIS).
This project developed a Guidance Document for Avian Habitat Restoration and Monitoring in Louisiana, which integrated coastal processes and avian ecology requirements with potential coastal engineering and construction specifications within representative individual coastal habitats/regions, based on taxonomic Working Groups. The guidance addressed a major knowledge gap and is considered critical in supporting ongoing and future Deepwater Horizon avian restoration activities.
The project will create or restore approximately 774 acres of broken marsh and open water, which comprises the restoration of 694 acres of degraded marsh and nourishment of 80 acres of marsh, through the construction of approximately 44,000 linear feet of containment dikes. This marsh restoration will provide 494 acres of intertidal habitat and 263 acres of subtidal habitat. The project will help buffer the surge barrier, which will increase flood protections to highly populated areas of New Orleans and provide important estuarine habitat for Lake Borgne.
The project is located in Jefferson Parish immediately northeast of Grand Isle and extends from Barataria Pass eastward to Pass Abel.