Southern Louisiana is known for its community festivals. In St. Mary Parish, home of Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge, Cajuns, and the Louisiana black bear, the Bayou Teche Bear Festival is the newest festival around. Held for the first time last month, the 2 day event educated the public about Louisiana black bear and demonstrated how a threatened species can be an asset to a local community. The event included plenty of traditional Louisiana festival elements - food, music, games and fun. 'The Bear-y Patch', an environmental education area hosted by Bayou Teche NWR and the Service's nearby Ecological Services field office, in Lafayette, featured exhibits and activities by many federal, state, NGO groups and the Chitamacha Tribe. It made for a unique, fun, and interesting addition to the standard festival fare. The refuge offers its thanks to the Bayou Cocodrie NWR Instructor Corps volunteers, who came to southern Louisiana to help out.

Contributed by: Janet Ertel, Acting Refuge Manager, Bayou Teche NWR, Franklin, LA