Feature: Chief Tours Work to Save Marshes

Chief Bruce Knight recently saw firsthand the Plant Materials Program's work to restore disappearing marshlands along the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The Chief and Louisiana State Conservationist Don Gohmert toured the Golden Meadows Plant Materials Center (PMC) near Galliano as part of a two-day look at NRCS coastal restoration efforts.  Louisiana loses as much as 35 square miles of coastal marsh every year. Lost salt marshes become open water, killing off plants, depleting marine habitat and causing soil erosion.  "The issues with coastal erosion are so massive—it's taking a lot of collaboration and work," said PMC manager Gary Fine during the tour.

The PMC has tested and made available six native plant varieties for use in marsh restoration. NRCS, along with the Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, has used these releases to help construct 23 ponds and protect almost one million linear feet of shoreline.

"It's the plant communities that hold it all together," Fine told Chief Knight. "And that's where we're starting."

Contact: Golden Meadow PMC