Invasive Species in Louisiana

This week Louisiana is the state of choice. Mainly because Hansel from Louisiana responded to my blog last week. This is what their company is doing to help remove an invasive species in Louisiana.

Hansel says, "I was just reading your spotlight on how Kansas is dealing with invasives, and I thought that I might share with you what our company is doing in Louisiana. Working with a grant from the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program, we have started a company that make dog treats out of nutria. As you may know, with the fall of the fur industry, nutria, a highly destructive mammal, have virtually no effective check on their explosive reproductive rates. And they are incredibly destructive to our wetlands. Presently Louisiana has to spend about $1.5 million each year to pay hunters to go in and cull their numbers. By creating consumer demand, we hope to create a private market control on their population (as previously existed when they were harvested for fur), which, in turn, would allow the State to phase out the Nutria Control Program and use those dollars for other coastal restoration projects. In the process, we hope to educate the public as to the dangers posed by invasive species as well as our coastal issues."

Learn more about invasive species in Louisiana:

• Invasive Species Interactive Map from Tulane University
• Louisiana's Invasive Species Website
• Exotic Species in Louisiana
• State Management Plan
• Invasive species: Impacts / Response Actions
• Status of Invasive Plants in Louisiana in EDDMapS.org