Southeastern NEWS
                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504-549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
                                           
    Date: October 13, 2000
      Contact:                           Rene Abadie or Christina Chapple   12


SOUTHEASTERN'S MANCHAC PROJECT AT TURTLE COVE AWARDED MILLION
DOLLAR APPROPRIATION

     HAMMOND   Southeastern Louisiana University's Manchac Project at Turtle Cove has been
awarded nearly $1 million in federal funds to continue and expand research and educational
activities at the environmental station, U.S. Rep. David Vitter and university officials announced
in a press conference today (Friday, Oct. 13).
     The $975,000 appropriation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science and
Technology Fund follows a $1 million appropriation approved last year by the EPA to initiate
wetlands research projects headquartered at Southeastern's Turtle Cove Environmental Research
Station.
     Southeastern President Sally Clausen praised Vitter for his strong interest in environmental
research. "His efforts in finding available funds to further our research, restoration and
educational efforts into the wetlands of the upper Lake Pontchartrain Basin have been invaluable.
This will strengthen the important ecological work that we are conducting in the Pass Manchac
area," she said.
     The Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station is located on Pass Manchac in the Lake
Pontchartrain estuary. Situated between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, the facility
serves as a base of operations for a faculty with strong ecological interests. Current projects
include a cypress tree reforestation effort involving students and volunteers and training
programs in environmental awareness, science and math for area teachers, elementary and high
school students.  
     The swamp area of Pass Manchac   approximately 100,000 acres   was severely damaged
when logging companies from the 1890s to the 1950s harvested the area's valuable cypress trees
and dug canals to move the timber.
     Nick Norton, chairman of biological sciences at Southeastern, said the new funds will help
build on work already initiated by Southeastern scientists. 
     "We will use extensive field work to fully classify the habitat, which is an essential early step
to help plan land use and restoration," he said. 
     The project, expected to last about three years, calls for scientists to examine the effects that
salt water intrusion and plant-eating animals, such as nutria, are having on the different plant
species and to perform a thorough inventory of the area's bird population and the effects of
parasites on fish species. In addition, the team will investigate the effects that certain
contaminants   primarily from the petrochemical and agricultural industries   are having on the
living organisms of the region.
     "We expect this effort will provide some valuable data to help us better understand the fragile
wetlands around Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain and to provide an opportunity to train a
new generation of young scientists about this important ecosystem," Norton said. "This research
is an essential step toward rehabilitating the Manchac swamp and integrates very well with
studies now being conducted by other area universities and institutions into the restoration of the
Lake Pontchartrain Basin."
     Norton said the influence of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin extends far beyond its 16-parish
physical boundaries that cover about 5,000 square miles. The basin functions as a nursery for the
freshwater and marine organisms critical to the Louisiana economy.
     "We anticipate that our work will also help further educate the public about the important role
our wetlands play in their lives," he said, "and develop an appreciation by the public of the
necessity of restoring these ecosystems to their original states."
                             -SLU-