(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Organizations team up for marsh restoration project in Pointe-au-Chien tribal land [1] ['Khalil Gillon', 'More Khalil Gillon', 'Verite News'] Date: 2024-01-19 A coalition of environmental organizations — Glass Half Full, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development, Common Ground Relief and ReCoast — have teamed up to collect and use Christmas trees to restore a marsh on the Pointe-au-Chien Indian tribe’s land. The Pointe-au-Chien land, which is south of Houma across Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, is currently facing one of the fastest rates of land loss in the world, said Gardner Goodall, the Native Plants Program coordinator at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. The problem has been exacerbated by the construction of a new waterfront property along the Gulf of Mexico, he added. “We need all the help we can get to help the communities there,” Goodall said. “Christmas tree recycling is a very effective tool for helping regular people understand that seemingly small actions can combine to have a major impact.” The coalition is currently accepting trees across a number of locations across Southeastern Louisiana and will continue to do so until late February. Glass Half Full is also offering to pick up trees for New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Northshore residents for a $15 fee through their website. The group’s goal is to rebuild four acres of degraded marshland through a three-step process. The organizations will use the trees to build a natural embankment. Glass Half Full, the organization leading the project, will then use sandbags filled with recycled glass sand to hold the trees in place. Finally, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana will plant native vegetation behind the embankment, which helps to stabilize the marsh and prevent future erosion.. “We are excited to offer this service, which will help slow coastal land loss in an area where it is particularly destructive,” Franziska Trautmann, co-founder of Glass Half Full, said in a press release. Glass Half Full, along with Common Ground Relief and the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development completed a similar restoration in the Bayou Bienvenue Wetlands Triangle in 2023. The project is funded in large part by a grant from the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the work will be completed by volunteers. Those interested in volunteering can sign up on the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana website. “The people of south Louisiana are aware of the problems our state is facing, and they want to become part of the solution. This gives them a way to do it,” Trautmann said. Tree dropoff locations: Coalition to Restore Southeast Louisiana: 6207 E St. Bernard Hwy, Violet, LA Common Ground Relief: 1500 Deslonde St., New Orleans, LA Spoga: 811 C M Fagan Dr., Hammond, LA Pointe-au-Chien School: 1236 LA-665, Montegut, LA Snake & Jake’s: 1200 Hillary St., New Orleans, LA Glass Half Full: 3935 Louisa St, New Orleans, LA (Monday and Wednesday 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday 9-4) Terrebonne Parish Sites: 651 Isle of Cuba Rd. Schriever, LA (Mon-Sat 7-5) ; 160 Crochetville Rd. Montegut, LA (Mon-Sat 7-5) ; 277 Ashland Landfill Rd. Houma, LA (dawn-dusk) Related Stories Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/01/19/organizations-team-up-for-marsh-restoration-project-in-pointe-au-chien-tribal-land/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/