The Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority of Louisiana, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and Resource Environmental Solutions are planting native vegetation at West Belle Pass near Port Fourchon to help trap wind-blow sediment and stabilize marsh and dune habitats. Chris Heller/Staff View the full gallery here.A few barrier islands along the coast of Louisiana are returning back to their roots.
The Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) is working on a $35 million project, which is a multi-phase barrier headland restoration that includes planting 62,000 native, salt-hardened coastal grasses including sea oats, bitter panicum and smooth cordgrass.
The West Belle Pass Restoration Project is a joint effort funded through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act by the State of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Agency and the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Erosion has slowly dwindled the remaining dune and marshland located at the headland, which protects America’s oil and gas industry including Port Fourchon.
The goal of adding plants to the barrier will help not only restore the already eroded dune, but help protect it from future erosion.
