GRA Coastal Restoration Event - October 10, 2011

The idea is to coalesce the concepts of preservation of our Acadian French cultural heritage with preservation of our coastal wetlands, both of which were placed in jeopardy in the 20th century due to Americanization, Anglicization, and Anthropomorphism.  We believe that the wetlands of south Louisiana played a crucial role in the isolation of French-speaking Acadians from the rest of the English-speaking world in the 18th and 19th centuries, thus facilitating the preservation and sustainability of the French language and Acadian culture in Louisiana.  The Acadians were able to basically live off the land and harvest the bounty of our wetlands with minimum influence by Anglos, and the Acadians have always pulled together as a community, which also minimized the need for outside influence.  In the 20th century, two world wars, coupled with mass communication technological breakthroughs, greatly increased the influence of the outside American culture on the Acadians of Louisiana.  It is the goal of GRA 2011 to rekindle in our young people the close ties that Acadians have to the land, the waters, and the wetlands, as well as to the Acadian culture and to the French language.  Because our coastal wetlands are being lost at an alarming rate (17 square miles per year), Acadians want to do what they can to mitigate this loss.  The organizers of GRA are teaming up with the Institute for Coastal Ecology and Engineering (ICEE) at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, as well as with the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP), with Le Centre International, and with Nicholls State University, to implement a coastal restoration project.  

The project is the construction of a "sand fence" and vegetation planting at Grand Isle State Park in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, about 50 miles south of New Orleans.  A "sand fence" is a structure that is erected to trap wind-blown sand and to thus facilitate the formation of sand dunes, which protect the barrier island's beach and the adjacent wetland habitats.  Fence posts have been installed for 1,000 feet of sand fence.  About 30 to 50 GRA participants would serve as volunteers to attach the fencing material to the posts and to plant dune-adapted native plant species adjacent to the fence.  The plants will serve to trap sand and to stabilize the substrate and thus minimize future erosion.  Adjacent wetlands will be protected by the dune and beach habitat.  In addition, some participants will be able to assist with a "beach sweep" in which trash and debris are picked up from the coastal barrier beaches and the items are assembled, sorted, and catalogued as part of an ongoing study of ocean-borne debris transport and distribution. 

The general plan will be for participants to register on the GRA web site and to arrive in Houma on October 9, and to provide their own lodging if they are traveling from out of town.  We expect and hope to attract many local participants from the Houma Terrebonne area, as well as outsiders, for this event.  Participants will rendezvous at the Houma civic center at 7 am on October 10. We are asking participants to provide their own cars, but we will carpool from Houma down to Grand Isle,  arriving on site between 9 and 10 am.  Alternatively, participants can make arrangements to meet us at Grand Isle State Park (see contact info below). Participants will be divided into groups and put to work on the fences, the planting, and the beach sweep.  There will be a break at noon for lunch (provided by BTNEP), and work will continue in the afternoon until about 3 pm, at which time participants will be drive back to Houma, arriving between 5 and 7 pm.  Or, participants can depart from Grand Isle and feel free to find lodging and participate in other activities along the coast.

Click here to see a similar marsh grass planting project conducted by NOAA at the Chandeleur Islands; please note especially what the plants looked like one year after the planting. http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/habrest/cwppra_cha.html

To volunteer for the GRA Coastal Restoration Event on October 10, 2011, please click here. 

For additional information, please contact: 

Thomas C. Michot, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Institute for Coastal Ecology and Engineering
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
P.O. Box 43688
Rougeou Hall, Room M20
Lafayette, LA 70504
Office: 337-482-1799
email: tcmichot@louisiana.edu
icee.louisiana.edu