Hundreds of sea oat plants bent in the breeze on a sandy beach as LSU AgCenter researchers walked among them, looking for plants with potential to help stem erosion on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.

Come Help Save the Wood Ducks in St.Bernard Parish.On November 24th, 2008, Gary Decossas and St.Bernard Parish 4-H Junior Leadership Club will go to St.Bernard State Park to help put up Wood Duck Boxes.

At 1,300 acres, City Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country. Located in the heart of New Orleans, it holds a special place in the hearts of generations of New Orleanians and is a must see for visitors to the city. On Saturday, November 1, 2008 – volunteers from around the state will help at the Wetland Plant Center by planting wetland plants that will be used in later restoration projects, organizing the growing space and greenhouse, and planting wetland plants around the park.

On Saturday, October 18, AWCC member Gary Decossas and 10 volunteers from the St.Bernard 4-H Junior Leadership Club helped in clearing a 1/2 mile stretch of Bayou Bienvenue!

AWCC members Amber Latiolais and Shelley Martin recently completed a bat house project! On July 25, 2008, at the Zoo of Acadiana, the two AWCC members, Jungle Camp participants, and other community volunteers worked together to construct and put up bat houses.

On October 13, approximately 18 AWCC members from around the state came together to clean up Lake D'Arbonne State Park.

Members serving in Southeast LA for 2008

Help save Louisiana's wetlands one piece of trash at a time. At 9:00 A.M. on October 5, AWCC member Amber Latiolais and Shelley Martin will host a Trash Bash at Vermilionville in Lafayette. Trash pickups are an easy way to help protect Louisiana's wetlands from non-point source pollution and better the water quality. Plus, who likes seeing trash stack up in a picturesque wetland landscape?! All you need to bring is yourself and as many friends as you want. Any volunteers will be grac

Rockefeller Planting 2008: In late May, AWCC members from around the state teamed up once again to try to protect Louisiana's coast. Approxiamately 18 AWCC members planted 4,000 plugs of Spartina Alterniflora. The marshgrass was planted in Pecan Island on the terraces owned by the Vermillion Corps. Thank you to Judge Edwards for allowing us on his property and to Mark Shirley for providing oversight of the event.

The America's WETLAND Foundation through the Campaign is raising awareness of the impact of Louisiana's wetland loss and increase support for efforts to conserve and save coastal Louisiana.

AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet our country’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.

Two AWCC Members are organizing a Bald Cypress Tree Planting on Aug. 11th at Jimmie Davis State Park

Scientists from the LSU AgCenter this week started planting grass as the first step in a research project designed to evaluate its ability to protect earthen levees on the Gulf Coast. The plant, which already is used widely for erosion control and is known to have some repellent qualities to termites, is vetiver grass.

AWCC members and volunteers will be building and planing bat boxes at the Lafayette Zoo on Friday July 25, 2008.

Members serving in Southwest LA for 2008

2008 AWCC Members serving in North Louisiana

AWCC Members need volunteers to help plant marsh grass in Cameron Parish

The AWCC is made up of 18 AmeriCorps members working throughout Louisiana (from Caddo to Lafourche Parish) to promote wetland conservation and environmental awareness through volunteerism and outreach education.

DNA technology finds practical ways to help establish genetically diversed vegetation to restore Louisiana’s wetlands.

Marsh Maneuvers may sound like a covert operation – particularly since it involves a group of hand-picked high school students spending five days on a private island.

An AWCC member led a team to install wood duck boxes along the Vermillion River.

The use of a constructed wetland to improve effluent water quality is a potentially valuable tool for agriculture in Louisiana.

Teaching students to be aware of the environment is the first step to their actively becoming environmental stewards. And during the LSU AgCenter’s second annual Youth Wetlands Week, March 31-April 4, more than 55,000 Louisiana students in grades fourth through 12th, some in every parish, will be taking that first step.

The AWCC AmeriCorps program is looking for extra volunteers to help with a tree planting project at Nibblets Bluff State Park in Vinton, LA.

The AWCC, the Vermillion Chapter of Delta Waterfowl, the LSU AgCenter, and the Abbeville High School Industrial Arts Dept. have teamed up to construct and place wood duck boxes along Vermilion and are looking for volunteers to assist in the project.

(Distributed 01/22/08) Although only about 140 miles long, the Atchafalaya River is the fifth-largest ocean-discharging river in North America, said Dr. Andy Nyman, associate professor of wetland wildlife management in the LSU AgCenter’s School of Renewable Natural Resources.

(TV News, 1/14/08) Coastal plants are one weapon in the war against coastal erosion. A team of researchers with the LSU AgCenter is breeding grasses that are helping to rebuild disappearing marshlands. (Runtime 1 minute, 59 seconds)

This document provides a synoptic overview of this 40-year-old navigation channel from project inception through modern day. Economic and environmental impacts related to the MRGO are documented for St. Bernard Parish and potential restoration scenarios are described. Additional information is provided on the time and financial resources required to fully address the environmental degradation caused by the MRGO.

One of the biggest questions that has arisen in recent years involves the apparent disparity in federal restoration funding provided for the Florida Everglades versus that provided for coastal Louisiana. This document uses published reports and secondary data to develop a parallel comparison of Florida and Louisiana wetlands at the state, regional, program and resource levels.

An historical overview of Louisiana fisheries in the context of pre- and post-levee construction on the Mississippi River. Data from the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion is used to describe the relationship between freshwater re-introduction and estuarine fisheries productivity. The report characterizes the conflict between Louisiana’s short-term and long-term goals of coastal restoration and coastal fisheries management.

More than 75% of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are privately owned, yet the majority of restoration funding provided through federal and state initiatives is directed toward large-scale, public restoration projects. This report compares and contrasts the programmatic and economic aspects of the coastal and inland models of wetland restoration that have evolved in Louisiana over the past decade.

In an effort to stem the relentless erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetlands, researchers at the LSU AgCenter are applying proven plant breeding and genetic techniques to improve native marsh plants that can withstand the troublesome coastal environment.

The AWCC AmeriCorps Program is always looking for individuals that are willing to serve for 11 months and give back to their communities. If you are interested in becoming part of the program, feel free to download the more detailed "AWCC Position Description" and/or the "AWCC AmeriCorps Member Year 1 Application."

The America’s Wetland Conservation Corps is leading a team to help pick up litter as part of the Lake Pontchartrain Beach Sweep.

Get involved and volunteer to help the America's Wetland Conservation Corps create wetland habitat in Lafitte, Louisiana, on September 8th.

Louisiana’s coastal wetland forests are of tremendous economic, ecological, cultural and recreational value. But many acres of these forests have disappeared over the past century, and many more are being degraded or lost each year.

AWCC members participated in a restoration planting event at Rockefeller Refuge on May 18th. The members planted a half mile stretch of canal bank with Spartina Alterniflora to help stabalize the bank and minimize erosion.

AWCC members attended wetland training at Rockefeller Refuge from May 16 to 18th, 2007.

America's Wetland Conservation Corps members will be assisting at Camp Azzie, a camp for children with asthma. The camp runs from July 15 to July 19, 2007.

Regional increases in flooding are likely to reduce the productivity of baldcypress-water tupelo swamps in coastal Louisiana. Although these trees are merchantable for lumber production, it will be important to design appropriate management plans for these sites.

Louisiana accounts for 80 percent of the nation's coastal wetland loss. Simply put, a large proportion of Louisiana acreage is wetland. Much of the state's economy depends upon wetlands. Find information on causes of wetland loss, definitions of wetlands and wetland functions and values.

LSU AgCenter coastal resources agent Mark Shirley had hoped to bring a group of students back to a plot near Holly Beach where they had planted marsh grass during the 4-H Marsh Maneuvers program in July. But, after driving for several miles on La. 82 between Holly Beach and Johnson’s Bayou last weekend, Shirley gave up on his hope to find the transplanted grass, which apparently fell victim to Hurricane Rita’s wrath.