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Restore the Earth reports 1.2 million cypress trees lost in St. Charles WMA fires; group seeks awareness and protections
Summary
Restore the Earth, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries partners and contractors told the council they planted 6 million cypress across the Gulf Coast — including 18,800 acres in St. Charles Parish — and that recent fires destroyed about 1.2 million trees on a state wildlife management area.
Restore the Earth and its partners told the St. Charles Parish Council on Monday the nonprofit’s large-scale reforestation led to 6 million native bald cypress plantings along the Gulf Coast in the last two years — including 18,800 acres in St. Charles Parish — and that recent unmanaged fires destroyed roughly 1.2 million of those trees on state-managed land.
“Restore the Earth recently completed a landmark restoration of 28,800 acres...planting over 6,000,000 native bald cypress trees, making it the largest project of its kind on the Gulf Coast,” Taylor Marshall, executive director of Restore the Earth, said in a presentation to the council. She said 18,800 acres of that restoration were planted in St. Charles Parish.
Marshall and partners described benefits they expect from healthy forested wetland—improved storm-surge protection, better water quality, fish and wildlife benefits, expanded recreation and carbon sequestration. They also warned of setbacks. “There were 3 different fires…we’ve lost a couple thousand acres,” Marshall told the council; later she gave a numerical loss: “1,200,000” trees killed on the Salvador Wildlife Management Area.
Gabe Griffin of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Corey Gavin of EcoRestore (the implementation partner) joined the presentation. Council members and the parish president pressed for specifics after the video overview. Marshall said that excluding the fire damage the project’s survival rate at the Salvador site was roughly 93 percent.
Marshall said the project mixes public and private funding and that some funders participate for carbon credits and for water-quality credits. The project supplied the first water-quality credit project certified under the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality program, she said, and called it “a first” for the state. She asked the council to help with public outreach, signage on Wildlife Management Areas and stronger enforcement to deter fires originating on neighboring private properties; the group is coordinating with the sheriff’s office and has met with parish officials.
Parish President Jewell said the parish is working with the Sheriff’s Office and Wildlife and Fisheries to enforce rules on burning and to pursue penalties when private fires spread onto the WMA. The council did not take formal action but heard requests to increase awareness and protections for the reforestation investment.
Restore the Earth requested help raising public awareness and discussed next steps including signage, enforcement coordination with the Sheriff’s Office, and restoring burned acres under contractual and funding commitments.
