Gulf Coast Post November 2023

NOVEMBER 2023

THE GULF COAST POST Dear community/advocates/supporters, As we reach the end of another hurricane season, we find ourselves not only relieved but also immensely grateful for the progress we've made in safeguarding our coastal communities and natural habitats. The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) is thrilled to welcome you to our November issue of the Gulf Coast Post, filled with exciting updates and opportunities for you to join us in our mission.

This year, we've witnessed the power of community, collaboration and the dedication of our supporters. Together, we've taken significant strides in protecting and restoring our coastal ecosystems, ensuring they thrive for generations to come.

As we approach the holiday season, it's the perfect time to make a meaningful impact. Our "Gift a Tree" campaign allows you to honor a loved one by planting a tree in their name. What better way to celebrate the season than with a gift that symbolizes life, growth and renewal?

Additionally, our year-end campaign provides an opportunity for you to contribute to CRCL's vital work. Your generosity can help us continue restoring the coast, preserving its unique beauty and resilience.

Thank you for being a part of our coalition. Your unwavering support and dedication have been the wind in our sails, propelling us toward a brighter, more resilient future. We hope you'll join us in celebrating our successes, making a difference this holiday season and expanding our commitment to coastal Louisiana.

Delta Discovery Tour drone imagery from Plaquemines mangrove propagule collection October 21, 2023.

CRCL’s 2024 Coastal Stewardship Awards Nominations are Open!

Organizational Updates

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy, but in the 35 years since CRCL was founded, the momentum has shifted from raising awareness about coastal land loss to implementing solutions. There have been countless heroes in the effort to save Louisiana. We would like your help in honoring some of them at our annual CRCL Coastal Stewardship Awards event, which will be held in Baton Rouge in May. Nominations are open through February 2024, and we encourage you to start the process today. Nominations can be made for elected officials, organizational leaders, scientists, community organizers, volunteers and others.

CRCL was named one of New Orleans’ best places to work by New Orleans City Business.

We have also released our newest partnership guide to inspire new ways to support our work.

Wear your pride for Louisiana with a new shirt! CRCL has partnered with Bonfire to bring several new designs that support our mission. Each design comes in a variety of colors and styles and would make the perfect holiday gift for the whole family.

CRCL Has a New Bronco Southern Quality Ford Dealers, a regional dealership consortium, is a new partner of ours along with the New Orleans Pelicans. In addition to sending volunteers to Oyster Shell Recycling Program events and even providing rental vehicles in the short term, Southern Quality Ford nominated CRCL to receive a new vehicle through the Ford Bronco Wild Fund. We were selected as the winner and are now using a custom Bronco to support our restoration efforts!

Thank you to the Bronco Wild Fund and Southern Quality Ford. Look out for our new wheels at volunteer events across the state. The Pelicans recently shared this video after joining a volunteer event.

Planting Mangroves at our Plaquemines Oyster Reef Our planting in Plaquemines Parish last month marked two milestones for our organization: the first time we planted trees that were grown from seed at CRCL’s Restoration Headquarters and the first project in which we have fortified an oyster reef restoration project with a native vegetation planting. By connecting our restoration projects, we anticipate stronger results from each. As these salt-tolerant mangroves establish intricate root systems, they will effectively anchor sediment on this sacred ground. Concurrently, the oyster reef will continue to serve as a natural buffer against wave energy, further fortifying the structural integrity of this historic mound.

Undertaken in collaboration with the Atakapa/Ishak-Chawasha tribe of Grand Bayou Indian Village, this project seeks to enhance shoreline stabilization on a site of great cultural and historical importance. This sacred mound site stands as a symbol of the tribe’s heritage. This collaboration represents not only a milestone for CRCL but a testament to the power of partnership and the convergence of ecological restoration with cultural heritage preservation. Together, we are creating a more resilient, vibrant future for coastal Louisiana.

This project was made possible with support from Restore the Mississippi River Delta, Phillips 66 and TC Energy.

Native Seed Drive In tandem with the exciting developments at our Restoration Headquarters, we are launching a native cypress seed drive.

Cypress trees play a critical role in coastal restoration by stabilizing shorelines, providing habitat for wildlife and reducing erosion. Your involvement in this campaign will help us replenish our coastal landscapes with native cypress trees, enhancing the resilience of our coastal communities. Find out how to collect seeds and get them to us so we can make more trees to plant.

Christmas Tree Recycling As we enter the holiday season, Christmas trees are top of mind for CRCL! This year, we’ll be partnering with Glass Half Full to support a restoration project with the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe. Recycled trees will be staged at CRCL’s Restoration Headquarters in advance of the project, then deployed along Bayou Pointe-au-Chien to help build and retain sediment.

Thank You, Apache!

CRCL has been selected as a recipient of the 2023-2024 Apache Corp. Tree Grant Program!

In a competitive pool of applicants, our proposal was selected to receive 4,000 bareroot cypress stems. These will be grown out for a year in the raised pond beds at our Restoration Headquarters before going down the Violet Canal to be planted with the Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective (CWRC).

Little Florida Dune Restoration The Native Plants program worked with locals at Little Florida Beach, planting 12,000 native dune grass plugs. This project will grow and stabilize sand dunes at Little Florida and Constance beaches in southwest Louisiana. 215 acres of brackish marsh were enhanced or will be protected as a result of the project. Strong sand dunes offer more bird habitat in one of the nation’s largest flyway zones and alleviate storm damage for the neighboring homes along the beach. This project was made possible in partnership with Cheniere, Restore America’s Estuaries and Serve Louisiana.

Oyster Shell Recycling Program Celebrates the Completion of Reef #5 We concluded the building of reef No. 5 at the end of September with two consecutive weekends of high-energy reef building events. Thank you to the more than 200 volunteers who came out over the course of four days to help us build this reef. Bags of recycled oyster shell were stacked, spanning 400 feet to create a living shoreline that will provide habitat and slow storm surge in the area.

Our Oyster Shell Recycling Program is made possible by our New Orleans area restaurant partners, R&R Recycling, Chefs Brigade, Serve Louisiana, other groups and individuals who volunteer with us at our Restoration Headquarters in Violet, and the generous support of our donors and sponsors. This reef build was also made possible by Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Restore America’s Estuaries; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program; Ports America; Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership; Entergy; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Colonial Pipeline Co.; and Royal Engineering.

Support OSRP Restaurant Partners With the success of our last big oyster reef build, we need your help replenishing the shell pile! Supporting CRCL's oyster shell recycling restaurant partners is about more than just enjoying a delicious meal; it's a direct path to safeguarding the very heart of Louisiana's coastal ecosystem.

By choosing to dine at these establishments, you're contributing to the restoration and preservation of our unique coastal environment. Oyster shells, often discarded as waste, hold incredible restorative power. When these shells are returned to our waterways, they provide crucial habitat for new oyster growth and help combat coastal erosion. They also filter the water and minimize storm surge during hurricanes and tropical storms.

Your support not only sustains these restaurants but also reinforces a cycle of sustainability in which the shells that once cradled your delectable oysters return to the coast, nurturing new life and strengthening the resilience of our shoreline.

So savor the flavors and savor the future: support CRCL's oyster shell recycling partners and be a part of something truly extraordinary. Your taste buds will thank you, and so will our coastline.

Restoration on the Half Shell at Rougarou Fest We had the pleasure of joining Rougarou Fest in Houma this year to highlight CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program through art and an information station, two “Coastal 101” presentations and an update on CRCL’s programs.

We also hosted an engaging community panel discussion with moderator Lanor Curole of the United Houma Nation, Alisha Renfro of National Wildlife Federation, Irvin Louque of the International Crane Foundation, Polly Glover of Restore or Retreat and Al DuVernay representing CRCL.

Future Coastal Leaders Future Coastal Leaders also joined us for Rougarou Fest, where they got firsthand experience engaging community members about coastal restoration and CRCL. Students helped us table at our information and oyster shell painting stations as a part of Restoration on the Half Shell at Rougarou Fest. Next week, FCL will co-host a meeting with the LSU Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) on LSU's campus. Students will learn about both FCL and SWS while also hearing from CRCL's Advocacy Director Tyler Bosworth on policy and the environment in Louisiana.

Coming up, six FCL alumni from last semester will celebrate finishing the program with a kayak tour of Maurepas Swamp with Lost Lands Tours.

For students interested in joining us for the spring semester, FCL will host a free field trip on Dec. 16! The field trip will include bus pick-up in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Students will then get a tour of various restoration sites in St. Bernard and Orleans Parish. Registration for the field trip will open soon on our website and will also be announced on all our social media platforms.

Support CRCL’s Retail Partners We partner with a range of mission-driven businesses to offer special items and deals that benefit our work at CRCL. Visit the retail partners page on our website to learn more. To help us celebrate these partnerships, consider supporting CRCL’s retail partners this holiday season.

See CRCL’s Gift-Giving Guide

CRCL In the News: Our media presence is growing. Here are some highlights: OCTOBER 2023 Apache Corporation Tree Grant Program Announces 2023 Recipients Restoring wetlands in the Lower Ninth Ward; efforts to prepare new dads for fatherhood Chefs on Boats: Finding the Feeding Waters Could billions of oysters protect us from the next big storm?

The Coalition to Restore Coastal LA hosts dune grass planting event Coastal restoration organizations are asking residents to help bring back a cypress forest Volunteers requested to plant dune grasses on Cameron Parish beaches

SEPTEMBER 2023 The mighty Mississippi is less so. And New Orleans’ drinking water is at risk.

Announcing the 2023 Best Places to Work Rewriting the Disaster Narrative in New Orleans through Collaboration and Community NORLI announces leadership class of 2024 for yearlong program

Once you shuck ‘em, don’t just chuck ‘em! Visit our public shell recycling drop-off locations to recycle your oyster shells!

New drop-off location!

UPCOMING EVENTS CRCL Oyster Shell Recycling Volunteer Event 11.17.23 CRCL Oyster Shell Recycling Volunteer Event 11.21.23 Central Wetlands Reforestation Cypress Planting 12.1.23 Central Wetlands Reforestation Cypress Planting 12.2.23 CRCL Oyster Shell Recycling Volunteer Event 12.8.23 Central Wetlands Reforestation Cypress Planting 12.15.23 Central Wetlands Reforestation Cypress Planting 12.16.23 CRCL Oyster Shell Recycling Volunteer Event 1.6.24 Shell-A-Bration 3.22.24 Coastal Stewardship Awards 5.9.24

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