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In the tranquil expanse behind a pumping station near Lake Borgne, an inspiring scene unfolds as hundreds of young saplings, ensconced in white plastic sleeves, reach for the sky. This serene setting in Meraux, Louisiana, is part of a significant restoration effort following the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.
Each week, dedicated organizers transport groups of eager volunteers to this site and others like it, utilizing airboats to navigate the wetlands. Equipped with a trailer filled with essential supplies, including rubber boots of all sizes and bins brimming with snacks, these volunteers are prepared for a rewarding day of planting and nurturing.
The ultimate vision is to see 30,000 mature trees, such as bald cypress and water tupelo, thriving across these areas. These trees will not only revitalize the natural wetland barrier that once protected the region but also serve as a critical defense against the encroaching sea. Their roots are expected to anchor the soil, supporting a renewed ecosystem that provides habitat for wildlife and offers a natural shield to New Orleans from future storms.
Much of the region’s protective wetland barrier was obliterated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which claimed over 1,000 lives and resulted in more than $100 billion in damages. In the years since, determined efforts have been underway to restore this vital landscape. As this extensive environmental project nears completion, those involved reflect on their achievements—transforming a degraded marsh into a foundation for a resilient ecosystem.
“We’re part of a broader initiative to counteract the ‘doomerism’ mentality and demonstrate that recovery is achievable,” remarked Christina Lehew, executive director of Common Ground Relief, one of the key players in this tree-planting mission. “By imagining the past and recognizing the vast wetlands we have lost, we understand that while we may never restore it to its original state, we can certainly reclaim a significant portion of it.”
Why organizations have joined forces to plant trees in wetlands
In other locations around New Orleans, cypress trees planted years ago tower over dense thickets rich with other native plants. They tell the story of what could have been, and what restorers are trying to bring back.
Before the logging industry, before the oil and gas industry, before anyone built levees to contain the Mississippi River, the Delta naturally ebbed and flowed and flooded as the river deposited sediment on the Gulf Coast. The plants that thrived in that ecosystem formed protective estuaries.
But then the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 burst through levees in dozens of places. Hundreds of people died and the water caused catastrophic damage across several states. After that, the government initiated a new era of levee building. By the mid-1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had also constructed a shipping channel called the Mississippi River—Gulf Outlet Canal (MRGO), which ultimately became a path for Katrina’s storm surge into the city of New Orleans.
Those engineering decisions worsened Katrina’s destruction. They allowed saltwater into freshwater ecosystems around the city, poisoning many of the trees. And so the city was exposed to future hurricanes, and lost the living guardians whose roots held the land in place.
In 2009, the MRGO was shut down to cut off further saltwater intrusion, and environmental groups started reforesting. Eventually, about five years ago, several organizations came together as a collective to apply for federal and state funding for a bigger project. Spreading two large grants across different volunteer bases, planting in different areas and using different techniques, they’re getting closer to that 30,000-tree goal. One of the largest groups, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, has planted about 10,000 of its 15,000-tree quota, said Andrew Ferris, senior coordinator for their native plants program. They’ll finish by next year, he said.
“In our wildest dreams we never thought we’d be able to plant some of the areas that we are now planting,” said Blaise Pezold, who started planting trees around 2009 and is now coastal and environmental program director for the Meraux Foundation, one of the partner organizations. “It was thought to be too low, too salty, Katrina messed it up too much, and we would have to focus on areas that were easier to get into.”
The closing of the MRGO and the drop in salinity levels changed all that. “The Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective has kind of allowed us to be very adventurous in the sites we choose,” Pezold added.
A way of processing grief, and rebuilding for the future
For many of the organizers in Louisiana who have been helping with restoration and recovery efforts, the project has been a way to cope with living in the wake of a natural disaster.
Katrina hit the day after Ashe Burke’s 8th birthday. “It still affects everybody that went through it, and … it changed us all. I mean, we had our lives ripped out from underneath us in a day,” said Burke, the wetlands restoration specialist for Common Ground Relief, where Lehew also works. “It still does hurt in some ways, you know? But we gotta keep going on and the sun rises in the morning.”
That’s also something important to teach the next generation, said Rollin Black, who works with the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, one of the tree-planting partner organizations. He also has family in New Orleans, and he said restoring the environment has been a way to act on the problems he saw. Seeing kids participate helps.
“That brings a little bit of joy to my heart that they’re actually inspired by what we’re doing. So maybe they could come back or maybe they have some reason to live in New Orleans,” he said.
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Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Joshua A. Bickel on Instagram, Bluesky and X @joshuabickel.
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