PRESS RELEASE

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Search and Rescue Units Staging for Response To Hurricane Ike Impact
BATON ROUGE, La. (September 11, 2008) - Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Enforcement Division personnel are prepared to move into areas that may be affected by Hurricane Ike’s impact.

Enforcement agents were positioned on the north and south shore of Lake Pontchartrain and in Thibodaux on Thursday.  Additional search and rescue units (SAR) will move into the Jennings area on Friday.  SAR units in position near the coast total 120 boats and personnel with reserve units on standby to move from northern locations as needed.

Flight assessments by the Louisiana National Guard and LDWF Enforcement personnel will determine the extent of SAR rescue activity needed post landfall.  LDWF additionally has emergency management assistance agreements in place should SAR activity require support from out of state rescue units.

STATE WILDLIFE REFUGES AND MANAGEMENT AREAS WEATHER HURRICANE GUSTAV IMPACTS

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ (LDWF) Coastal and Nongame Resources Division has completed an initial assessment of Hurricane

Gustav’s impact on state wildlife refuges and management areas near the Gulf of Mexico.

Preliminary ground surveys by Coastal Division biologists were conducted between Sept. 2 and 8.  The report compiled is based on observations limited by access to interior marshes and primarily addresses facilities and equipment damage and wildlife impacts where noted.

Pointe aux Chenes Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which straddles the Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish border in southeast Louisiana, sustained heavy damage as the storm passed directly over the region.  The WMA’s levee system was severely eroded in multiple locations and a large scale fish kill was noted in adjacent water bodies.

The islands within Isles Dernieres Barrier Island Refuge, off the southern Terrebonne Parish coast, showed varying degrees of damage.  Wine Island appeared to have taken the brunt of the storm’s destructive force.  The entire island was overtopped by storm surge and the brown pelican population suffered losses.

The complete report is available at www.wlf.louisiana.gov and can be accessed via the Hurricane Preparation and Response banner under the link titled “Initial Hurricane Gustav Assessment for Coastal Operations.”