Oil Spill Program

Programmatic Goals BROAD STROKE Response: Document incidence of wildlife and habitat injury in association with oil spills throughout the State; Assessment: Determine the extent of wildlife and habitat injury (acute and chronic); Restoration: Utilize information gathered to determine appropriate means to address service losses (i.e., return resource(s) back to baseline).

What’s in the Toolbox? On-site documentation (qualitative and quantitative) “Bird in Hand” Literature (peer-reviewed to white papers) Life History Information Population Status (WAP, Nature Serve, FWS) Injury Analyses (HEA and REA) DARP (Damage Assessment / Restoration Plans) These tools signify the principal means for trustees to assess natural resource injury.

Problems Within Louisiana – as exemplified in Deepwater Horizon, LDWF and trustees have: 1.) Limited means to quantify the extent of wildlife injury throughout the state’s diverse habitat types

Main Pass Block 75 Valero Refinery Johnson Pass Bayou Sorrel / Pharaoh Oil and Gas. Mooringsport Swift Energy

Principally limited to coastal systems Problems Principally limited to coastal systems 2.) Limited wildlife and habitat baseline information; These data are critical for implementing defensible injury analyses …which is the road map for resource restoration

Solutions

Response Department’s procedural roadmap for documenting associated wildlife and habitat injury Incorporating validated injury assessment methodologies Defensible injury assessment Timely restoration of State’s natural resources

Programmatic Coordination Identify Wildlife and Sensitive Areas Contingency Plans Geographic Response Plans (GRP) Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Maps State’s Wildlife Action Plan (WAP) Trustee Engagement

Assessment Informed by response injury lanes Integrated approach (Wildlife & Habitat) Utilizing validated and defensible sampling methodologies Define the extent (short and long term) of associated injury

Development of Bioindicator Species

Terrapin Coastwide Distribution and Abundance and Nesting (2012-current) Appear to be tied to specific coastal basins for their entire life cycle Therefore regional oiling impacts could cause significant population injury Rarely documented within historical response activities

Marsh Birds Coastwide call back surveys (2011-2015) Clapper Rail Coastwide call back surveys (2011-2015) Site fidelic species Indicators of marsh health Historically impacted by coastal spills

Case Study An Incident (pipeline spill, estimated release of 4000 bbls (later upgraded to 4500 bbls) of crude oil from a 20 inch interstate pipeline (Location: near Mooringsport, LA Caddo Parish). Released oil traveled into an unnamed upland creek before eventually being contained within Bayou Tete directly south of Caddo Lake. Timeframe: 10/13/14 to 11/7/14

Response Performed daily surveys within defined transects (search effort).

Taxa-Specific Efforts Extensive numbers of dead / dying freshwater turtles were observed / brought to the designated rehabilitation center Indication as to the severity of this particular spill to resident wildlife species

Assessment Turtles Stream Delineation Fisheries Macroinvertebrates

Collectively response and assessment data are being populated Followed by select injury analyses (ex. HEA, REA, Recreational…) Restoration project(s) are being identified (ex, land acquisition, conservation easements, habitat restoration) to “make the public whole”

What sentinel species or habitats would benefit from DWH resources? How can a LDWF and partners better facilitate those benefits? Deepwater Horizon

Long-Term Wildlife Monitoring Pre and Post Restoration Monitoring