NEW ORLEANS — From the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana:
The CRCL is seeking volunteers to plant trees April 4-6 at the New Isle, the community resettled from Isle de Jean Charles due to coastal land loss. The volunteers will be planting a mix of 1,500 bald cypress and three types of oak trees at the site in Gray in Terrebonne Parish.
The community known as New Isle is the nation’s first federally funded resettlement project for communities threatened by climate change. The trees will help restore the ecology of the site, transforming it from degraded fallow sugarcane fields to forested wetlands. Many of the people who live in the community belong to the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha Choctaw. The tree planting event is funded by Entergy.
“This is an exciting and fun volunteer event that will help the New Isle shape their community in a way that benefits residents for decades to come,” said Michael Biros, restoration programs director at CRCL. “These trees will provide wildlife habitat, create shade and help provide natural protection against severe weather.”
In Louisiana, about 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands and beaches have turned into open water in less than a century. South-central Louisiana, where Isle de Jean Charles is located, is experiencing some of the fastest rates of land loss on the planet. A recent study determined that the Gulf of Mexico is 10 miles closer to the city of Houma than it was in the 1930s.
Isle de Jean Charles was once more than 22,000 acres, but only about 320 acres remain. In 2016, the state received $48 million in Community Development Block Grant funding to support the community’s relocation. The New Isle was developed about 40 miles to the north.
The tree planting events are part of CRCL’s Native Plants Program. With its volunteers, CRCL has planted more than 1 million plants and trees since 2007. The organization planted 1,500 bald cypress trees in southcentral Louisiana in 2023. CRCL is supported by individual donors, corporate sponsors and grants.
Young people are welcome to register as volunteers; the minimum age is 14. Volunteer check-in will begin both days at 8:45 a.m. All equipment required by volunteers will be provided by CRCL, as will premade lunches and drinks. Close-toed shoes are required. Directions to and details about the site will be provided to registered volunteers a few days prior to the event.