Katrina, Gulf Coast wildlife, wetland habitats (SF Chron, 8/27)

[pinto]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long-term harm to marsh system
Katrina, Rita ripped Gulf Coast wildlife and wetland habitat

- Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Outdoors Writer
Sunday, August 27, 2006


(08-27) 04:00 PDT Lake Charles, La. -- After Hurricane Katrina plundered the Gulf Coast, Maria Tio returned to her flooded home in New Orleans and found deathlike silence. "There were no sounds at all," Tio said. "It was so eerie. There was no life of any kind from the salt water, not even mosquitoes. Nothing."

In Cameron Parish, Nicole Clark was returning to see what was left of her parents' home after Hurricane Rita roared through. She found an alligator carcass perched in a tree like a scarecrow and the town of Holly Beach scraped clean down to the foundations.

In the heart of the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, a wrecked house that looks as if it were dropped there in a scene out of "The Wizard of Oz" was carried for miles by storm surge.

<snip>

Towns and cities testify to the human and social toll exacted by the storms. But the environmental costs can best be understood in places like the refuge. Here, it can be seen how hurricanes launch a catastrophic chain reaction of events, including saltwater inundation, habitat destruction and displacement of wildlife.

<more of a good, comprehensive article from the Chron's Outdoor Writer, Tom Stienstra>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/27/MNGL2KQ3NA1.DTL&type=printable

[merh]

1. Maybe if Scalia and Cheney and their buddies

realize that the duck hunting has been hampered this fall, maybe then someone will pay attention to this destruction, to these wildlife refugees.

After all, isn't this the area (or near the area) they have hunted in the past.

[pinto]

2. Ha. Actually, that's a good point. *That* means something to them.

(aside)May be wrong, but I think they hunt on East Texas "crony" land...good call, though.

[merh]

7. No, actually, it was southern Louisiana.

Scalia-Cheney Trip Raises Eyebrows
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2003
Cheney (AP)

(CBS) Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck hunting together at a private camp in southern Louisiana, just three weeks after the court agreed to take up the vice president's appeal in lawsuits over his handling of the administration's energy task force, the Los Angeles Times says in its Saturday editions.
(snip)

One has to wonder how that private camp was affected (and if it was adjacent to the Wild Life areas that have been so harmed by Katrina).

[NNadir]

3. How are you making out in the recovery?

I know you lost almost everything in Katrina. I recall the videos you posted here. I will never forget them in fact.

I hope you're well.

[NNadir]

4. For those who may not have seen those videos, here's the link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4908581

It's powerful stuff.

[merh]

5. I'm wearing my Katrina blouse

the only blouse I found after the storm, it was hanging in the branches of a neighbor's tree, several houses away. (The only other item of clothing I found was my favorite sweater, it's too hot for that today :silly: )

They are Katrina us to death, too much coverage for me, I'm staying low and trying to dodge all the darned programs.

My life is still as it was, living in a femansion and battling red tape, but I am alive and haven't given up hope, I'm just so darned tired.

Thanks for asking - it is just going to take a very, very long time to get back close to where we were before Katrina.

[NNadir]

6. I hope you have peace.

Thank you for being the voice of reality here.

[merh]

8. I so appreciate the wishes for peace

and the kind words.

If you get a chance, please read my latest journal entry, that gives you an idea of what our reality is like now, a year later.

thank you again.