The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office (TPSO) continue to search for an arsonist who set a fire that destroyed a recently completed boat access fishing pier at the Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area (PAC WMA).
In April 2022, TPSO began investigating a fire on a fishing pier that is suspected to have been set by an arsonist on or around April 21, 2022. The fishing pier is located approximately one mile northwest of Island Road near a water control structure on Pointe-aux-Chenes WMA.
Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact the TPSO at 985-876-2500 or Bayou Crime Stoppers. Also, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the fire.
The destroyed pier, which had only been in place for a year, was one of seven boat access fishing piers and five road access fishing piers that are part of a $5 million PAC WMA Enhancement Project. The project also included a kayak launch and renovated boat launch.
The PAC WMA project, which is located in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, is funded by Natural Resource Damage Assessment dollars resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement. The engineering and design for the projects was provided by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
The projects, which are intended to restore a portion of the outdoor recreational opportunities lost as a result of the 2010 spill, have been very popular with fishermen and hunters alike.