GULF ISLANDS WILDERNESS STUDY AREA Gulf Island National Wildlife Refuges Jackson County, Mississippi St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes, Louisiana WILDERNESS STUDY REPORT U. S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1 Introduction 1 2 Objectives 2 3 History 3 4 Location 4 5 Physical Characteristics 5 6 Resources 6 Wildlife 6 Fish 8 Vegetation 9 Recreation 10 Minerals 11 7 Socio-Economic Consideration 11 8 Development 14 9 Management 15 Summary and Conclusions 18 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Gulf Island National Wildlife Refuges, lying along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, have historically been areas of vital importance to colonial nesting birds and wintering waterfowl. Three refuges -- Breton, Horn, and Petit Bois -- are included in the Gulf Island Refuge complex. Breton was established as the second National Wildlife Ref- uge in 1904. Petit Bois and Horn were added in 1913 and 1958 respec- tively. These island refuges play an important part in the national wildlife conservation effort. During the summer months many thousands of shorebirds, gulls, and terns nest on the sandy beaches and interior areas of the islands. In the winter, waterfowl rest and feed in bays and sounds bordering the islands as well as in the fresh and brackish interior ponds on some of the islands. The refuges range in size from 749 acres on Petit Bois Island to 9,047 acres on the Breton Refuge. Horn Island Refuge contains 2,442 acres. The Chandeleur Islands, which are 35 miles long and average less than a half mile in width, make up the greater part of Breton Refuge. The ref- uge lands on Horn and Petit Bois are divided by State or private holdings whereas on Breton Refuge only small acreages remain in State ownership. The Bureau's acquisition program includes purchasing all privately-owned lands on Horn and Petit Bois islands. The refuge islands have not been drastically altered by man and are among the few coastal barrier islands that remain in a near-natural condition. As roadless undeveloped islands in the national wildlife refuge system, these refuges meet the criteria for wilderness study as prescribed by the Wilderness Act. CHAPTER 2 OBJECTIVES The Wilderness Act of September 3, 1964 (Public Law 88-577) stipulates that the Secretary of Interior shall review every roadless island and every roadless area of 5,000 acres or more within the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Secretary directed this Bureau to review every such area that (a) is reasonably compact, (b) is undeveloped, (c) possesses the general characteristics of a wilderness, and (d) has no improved roads suitable for public travel by conventional automobile. Each area and island must satisfy all of these elements. The Act further provides that (1) wilderness areas are to be supplemental to the purposes for which national wildlife refuges are established; and (2) wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use, insofar as primary refuge objectives permit. The purpose of this study of the Gulf Island Refuges is to determine if any or all of the islands should be recommended for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. CHAPTER 3 HISTORY The actual discoverer of the Mississippi Sound and River will probably never be known. However, Pineda in 1519 has been credited with this discovery. Also, Ponfilo de Narraes, a Spanish explorer, may have seen the river in 1519, and in 1527, de Narraes, with Cobega de Vasca under him, got lost and missed the rendezvous with his ships. Making horsehide boats, they followed the Gulf Coast west and reached the area of Chandeleur Sound. In a storm, de Narraes perished, but the remainder of his men, under de Vaca, found refuge on a small island in the Mississippi Sound. Presumably this island was one of the following: Horn, Ship, or Cat. In 1539, Desoto explored from Pensacoula Bay west to the delta of the Mississippi River and probably saw some of the refuge islands. In the early 1700"s, Sieur Bienville, lieutenant to the King of France, explored the Pascagoula River and Bay in a bark canoe. Bienville was granted a royal patent giving him Horn Island as a reward for his services to the king, and, at that time Horn was referred to as Isle Bienville. There is no mention made of Petit Bois in early literature, but it is commonly believed that Petit Bois was a part of Dauphin Island. Indians of the tribes of Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Mactobi occupied the mainland, but used the barrier islands very little. They did maintain a temple with a perpetual flame on Dauphin according to some historical accounts. Early Literature of the Chandeleur Islands mentions the presence of trees and a much higher elevation than exists today. This is aLso true of Breton IsLand which has changed greatLy since those days. In L9L5, Breton Is Land had severaL famiLies and a school on it. ALL abandoned the is Land just prior to the hurricane of that year, and the entire settLement was destroyed and was never rebuiLt. By Executive Order, President Theodore RooseveLt estabLished Breton in 1904, as the second National Wildlife Refuge. Public Land Orders set aside 749 acres on Petit Bois and 2,484 acres on Horn Island for refuge purposes in 1913 and 1958 respectively. These actions assured that at least a portion of the historically valuable wild shores of the Gulf region would be preserved for future wildlife use. CHAPTER 4 LOCATION The Gulf Island Refuges extend along a 90 mile segment of the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, Breton Refuge is located in Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes, Louisiana, and is about 12 miles offshore from the Mississippi River Delta. Petit Bois and Horn lie eight to ten miles from the mainland in Jackson County, Mississippi. The wilderness study area includes all three refuges for a total of 12,238 acres. Two major metropolitan centers are within one hundred miles of the study area — New Orleans, Louisiana, to the west and Mobile, Alabama to the east. Pascagoula, Biloxi, and Gulfport, Mississippi, are located on the mainland adjacent to the islands. CHAPTER 5 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS The islands are famous for their wide gently sloping beaches of unusually fine white sand. They are bordered on the Gulf side by clear blue water and on the Sound side many of the islands are bounded by a maze of ponds, inlets, and marshes. The flora and fauna and the dynamics of seacoast formation add an interest natural history dimension to the area and provide an attractive setting for wild shore recreational pursuits. Geologically, the refuge islands are difficult to interpret. Accretion and erosion along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have been in progress since the Cretaceous Period. Study of these processes demonstrates the evolution of barrier island from narrow peninsula and mainland ridges of sand. The Gulf Islands do not necessarily follow this geological pattern but rather it is commonly believed that subsidence of the northern Gulf Basin during recent geological times formed the present coastal barrier islands. The Chandeleur and Breton Islands are still subsiding at a rate of approximately .03 inches per year, but the effects of longshore drift, river deposits and onshore waves have helped to rebuild some areas. The entire chain of islands, however, is known to be moving westward and along with this movement is losing elevation. Vegetative development, as with the geological processes, is far from being climax. The climax vegetation of the region is hammock forest of live oak and magnolia. Little of this type is found on the study area. Very small areas on the dunes on Horn Island do have a few hammock species such as magnolia, palmetto and live oak. The islands' land-forms, and vegetation, are affected by violent storms that frequently pass through the area. Elevation on the islands range from sea level in the interior waterfowl ponds to nearly 20 feet at the highest dune. The average elevation is four feet above mean low water. Low dunes parallel all of the Gulf beaches. Devastating hurricanes are not uncommon. Local tradition has it that the last "hundred year storm" tide was 13 feet above mean sea level. Under such a storm only points of land would show above water on Horn Island. In the study area the Chandeleurs are the lowest lying. They are frequently awash even during minor storms. The Gulf Region is characterized by warm temperatures and high humidity, but summer heat is ameliorated by the waters of the Gulf Of Mexico. Biloxi, Mississippi, averages only 55 days per year of temperature readings of .90 degrees or above. "The winters are mild, with January minimum temperatures averaging 42 to 56 degrees and maximums averaging over 60 degrees. Precipitation averages about 63 inches per year through out the study area. July, with an average rainfall of seven to eight inches, is the wettest month. CHAPTER 6 RESOURCES Wildlife The wild shores of the Gulf Island Refuges are distinctive for their teaming colonies of nesting shorebirds and wintering waterfowl. A total 6 of 128 species of birds have been recorded on the study area. A variety of gulls, terns, egrets, and herons can be seen throughout the year, but are more abundant during the summer. Peak shorebird, marsh and water bird, gull and tern populations numbered nearly 85,000 in a recent summer. Twenty-three different species of these water and shorebirds are frequent users of the refuge and thirteen species nest on the various islands. Breton and the Chandeleur Islands receive the greatest use.