In the southern corner of Calcasieu Lake is a small island that to most people wouldn't seem like much, but for the residents that call it home it's a paradise.
The 87 acre island is home to several species of bird, including Louisiana's state bird the brown pelican.
Rabbit Island is one of only ten nesting sites in the state for brown pelicans and the only one located in southwest Louisiana so its survival, which wasn't always guaranteed, is vital.
Suffering from the combination of subsidence, erosion, and human caused factors Rabbit Island was down to just a few patches of unsuitable marsh.
Jon Wiebe, a biologist with Louisiana Fish and Wildlife said that every year the pelicans who nested there were losing about 50 percent of their nests.
"Last year our count was 4200 brown pelican nests," Wiebe said.
While pelicans are certainly the largest resident on the island they're not the only ones.
Audubon Society biologist Katie Barnes said that the island is vital habitat for a variety of coastal nesting species, which gives them a place relatively predator free to raise their young.
The restoration efforts was a collaboration that featured Louisiana's Fish and Wildlife along with the Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority which used BP relief funds to finance the project, and funding has been approved to continue to monitor and maintain those efforts.
They've raised the land a few feet to help prevent flooding and the addition of a living seashore, a network of living oyster reefs, could help erosion from creeping back to the island.
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