$19M pelican island make-over

Thirty-seven acres of Queen Bess Island in south Jefferson Parish, La., is tentatively scheduled for a $19M restoration make-over to provide a nesting area for the state’s brown pelican’s recovery. The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (TIG) released a draft plan for restoring the nesting habitat, which is eroding since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The island hosts about 20 percent of the state’s brown pelicans during nesting seasons. TIG is the intergovernmental group tasked with spending $5B in BP settlement money from the oil spill. Queen Bess Island’s rate of erosion has quickened, likely due to oil exposure. Of its remaining 36 acres, only five are suitable for pelican nesting. TIG is accepting public comment on its plan and will discuss it Jan. 3 at 9:30 a.m. during a state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting in Baton Rouge. (Source: NOLA.com 12/21/18)