Mud, sweat and cheers: Volunteers plant mangroves to protect Louisiana coast from erosion

• Volunteers planted trees and grasses to help protect Louisiana’s coast from erosion.
• The planting effort is part of a larger project to fortify 34 man-made islands between Fourchon and Grand Isle.
• These islands and their new vegetation are designed to act as a barrier against storm surges.
• The project was organized by the environmental groups Restore or Retreat and Ducks Unlimited.

Twenty-five volunteers slipped and sloshed through mud to plant trees Nov. 7 and 8 to shield Louisiana’s coast.

Restore or Retreat and Ducks Unlimited rallied volunteers to plant 12,000 black mangroves and 12,000 Vermillion smooth cordgrass plants along the edges of 34, 1,000-foot-long, man-made mud islands located between Fourchon and Grand Isle. The volunteers went out on four boats, armed with gloves, two augers and four dibble bars to finish the last nine islands and plant the last 6,000 trees.

“Your back does feel it by the end of the day,” Restore or Retreat’s Executive Director and Louisiana State Rep. Joseph Orgeron said as he demonstrated to volunteers how to use the auger. “Polly, why don’t you show them the dibble dance?”

Project Coordinator Polly Glover plunged the dibble bar into the soft mud and wiggled it to create an indention for the grass. The dibble bar had a flat, almost paddle-like shape on one end, with a T-shaped handle on the opposite end.

Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland” played over a cellphone as volunteers swarmed the edges of the islands. Everywhere they touched went from black mud to patches of green. Curious dolphins and stone crabs popped up to investigate the commotion.

The small islands act as a barrier against storm surges, Orgeron said, by truncating the initial surge and slowing the progress of water. The roots of the plants will act as anchors, holding the land in place against erosion, and the trees also will help block the wind.

Volunteer Tina Dieudonne traveled from New Orleans to help with the planting.

“Because I believe conservation in the state must be done,” she said as she planted the grass. She said the lock and levee systems weren’t enough alone. “Even with the large steel walls, we still lose the land real fast.”