Case Study: The Coastwide Nutria Control Program

The introduction of the nutria rat into other areas was supposed to provide economic benefits, but instead in Louisiana, they caused damage to cane, rice fields, and wetlands. Nutria rats live in “brackish marshes and wetlands and feed on vegetation that is vital to sustaining the Louisiana coastline” (“Nutria, Eating Louisiana’s Coast” 1). When they feed on the vegetation it is called eat-outs which end up making “openings in the marsh vegetation, and they are currently affecting an estimated 100,000 acres of coastal wetlands” (“Nutria, Eating Louisiana’s Coast” 1). Most of the wetlands were “converting to open water at a rate of 25-35 square miles (65-91 square kilometers) each year” (“Nutria, Eating Louisiana’s Coast” 1). At this rate, the
The program is mainly focused in south Louisiana and “all basins and coastal parishes located south of Interstates 10 and 12” (“Coastwide Nutria Control Program (LA-03b)” 1). The fur trapping activity for nutria has declined rapidly over the past decade, making the market weak and unprofitable; resulting in overpopulation of nutria and serious damage to coastal wetlands. From 1993 to 2001 the government “have indicated that approximately 100,000 acres have been impacted coastwide” (“Coastwide Nutria Control Program (LA-03b)”
The final result of the nutria rats presence is completely up to people that reside here, which may be a lot of responsibility but we have brought this situation upon ourselves. We either let them destroy, eat up our land, and ruin communities or we work to renew the land. There are many people currently putting in tons of works to replace the land that has been lost to these foreign creatures. They have begun planting cypress trees which have a strong rooting to start a rooting system to allow the other plants to grow off of them and thrive. There are also the people that are hunting this pest down that are also helping gain the wetlands back. The wetlands have done so much for us like protect and provide for our communities; so once we retain them my hope is that we never take advantage of them again. I believe the state still has a chance to regain the wetlands; it will take lots of time and effort but it is completely worth