Yesterday, a story about nutria in Louisiana hit the AP wire, and has been reprinted all over the country, from KATC TV-3 to the Chicago Tribune. The story says that the state’s latest survey of wetlands damage by nutria is down by about 3,000 acres, and credits the good news to the success of the state's Coastwide Nutria Control Program.
A report by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says nutria damaged an estimated 20,333 acres of wetlands between the spring of 2008 and this spring, or about 3,000 fewer acres than the previous annual survey.
Hunters are paid $5 a piece by LDWLF for nutria tails.
Saving 3,000 acres of wetlands is a remarkable number, especially when you look at the coastal land loss figures. According to the numbers in the joint federal and state wetlands Web site, LaCoast.gov, Louisiana has lost up to 40 square miles of marsh a year for several decades. There are 640 acres in a square mile. So if you do the math, two years ago, nutria damaged 32 square miles of coastal marsh. This year they only ate 27 square miles.
Those numbers seem to point the big stick at nutria for causing more coastal land loss than any other item, such as oil field canals and salt water intrusion, lack of siltation, subsidence or ocean rise. It leads us to believe we can trap our way out of coastal erosion.
However there are a lot of caveats when you take a closer look at the complexity of the big picture. First of all, nutria graze, move on, and vegetation regenerates in many cases. So the damage is not permanent. Second, hurricanes are big killers of nutria. If you had travelled the coast roads right after Katrina, Rita, Ike or Gustav, you would have seen thousands of drowned swamp rats (along with other wildlife) because they can’t survive in the salt surge that covered the wetlands. More hurricanes last year, fewer nutria. Third, the state’s land loss figures come from satellite images, a snapshot based on tides and winds at any given moment.
Now I’m not saying that the nutria news isn’t good, or that coastal land loss isn’t as enormous as stated. I’m just questioning putting out numbers into a vacuum, with no context. Coastal restoration is a giant problem; it helps no one when you only get a little nibble of the picture without understanding what the numbers mean.
Useful info, Mary. I hope other people take the time to question numbers thrown at them by government. Even when well intentioned and presented in good faith, people can make mistakes. Fact checking gives everybody confidence.
... written by anonymous , July 20, 2009 - 08:26 am
Word is alligator skins aren't selling, alligator farmers don't want eggs this year and many alligator hunters may not hunt this year. Look for nutria numbers to drop further in the next few years as the alligator population increases.
... written by C4Uself , September 07, 2009 - 12:05 pm
Mary, the Nutria is a HUGE problem that report just scratched the surface of. When you say:
"First of all, nutria graze, move on, and vegetation regenerates in many cases. So the damage is not permanent. Second, hurricanes are big killers of nutria. If you had travelled the coast roads right after Katrina, Rita, Ike or Gustav, you would have seen thousands of drowned swamp rats....."
You are over simplifying the problem, and are mistaken in asserting that the damage is "not permenant". The following excerpts from a USDA APHIS report outline additional effects of this menace:
Damage Nutria damage is evident to varying degrees in every area they are found. The most noticeable damage is the result of burrowing. Nutria are notorious in Louisiana and Texas for undermining and breeching water-retention levees in flooded fields used to produce rice and crawfish. Nutria burrows can also damage flood control levees that protect low-lying areas; weaken the foundations of reservoir dams, buildings, and roadbeds; and erode the banks of streams, lakes, and ditches. Nutria damage, however, is not limited to burrowing. Depredation on crops is well documented. In the United States, sugarcane and rice are the primary crops damaged by the nutria. Grazing on rice plants can significantly reduce yields, and damage can be severe in localized areas. Other crops damaged by the nutria, include corn, milo, sugar and table beets, alfalfa, wheat, barley, oats, peanuts, various melons, and a variety of vegetables. This depredation can lead to significant losses, especially for small farmers. Of critical importance, is the negative impact this invasive species has on native vegetation and associated wetlands. In Louisiana, some nutria feed on seedling baldcypress with such intensity that the trees cannot survive."
So please be careful how you wield the pen.....Our coast was built up over millenia without the Nutria, as it is native to South America. It's eradication is extremely important and the success thus far of that program should be highlghted as progress and a milestone in coastal restoration, thus encouraging further steps and continued diligent actions.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in using your Facebook account or register if you do not have an account yet.
In rendering his ruling, District Judge John Trahan all but called the real estate developer a liar for inconsistencies in his accounts of what prompted him to punch a school teacher unconscious.
Frank’s Casing Crew, now doing business as Frank’s International, will make its final appearance on ABiz’s list of the Top 50 Privately Held Companies in Acadiana this year, and once again, it will likely be at the top with more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The 75-year-old company specializing in tubular fabrication and installation services to the oil and gas industry plans to go public this year.
The defeat, or rather highjacking of House Bill 420 in the final days of this year's Legislative Session, say Reps. Vincent Pierre and Terry Landry, is the result of the propaganda spread by one unidentified local media outlet and an unnamed former state Representative, but nothing to do with the original legislation's lack of checks, balances or details.
City-Parish Council Chairman Brandon Shelvin heaped steady doses of condescending ire on a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana executive while failing to reveal his financial ties to a BC/BS rival.
Abbeville native David Primeaux was a popular professor until his death late last year, and while he was successful at camouflaging a dark past, he couldn’t outlive it.
Tehmi Chassion’s failure to recuse himself in the school board’s selection of a group health benefits provider raises ‘serious questions’ on whether he violated state ethics law.
He’s a singer. A songwriter. A piano man. A family man. He’s even got his own Wikipedia entry. He’s David Egan. And he knows ancient secrets about the monolithic stones of Stonehenge that he’s not willing to share.
Subscribe to this comment's feed