Sugar industry recovers with sweet harvest
December 21, 2010
Tri-parish families get troops home for holidays
December 23, 2010Terrebonne Parish officials have announced that they will accept used Christmas trees to help prevent coastal erosion along the Intracoastal Canal near the Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge.
Trees are placed along fences, also known as cribs, to reduce erosion along marsh areas while allowing for water flow and sediments.
Residents interested in participating in the program can place trees where normal trash pickup is located between Jan. 3 and Jan. 7, 2011.
Lafourche Parish will also recycle Christmas trees in the effort to control coastal erosion. This year, there will be no collection points. Instead, the parish will collect trees curbside from Jan. 6-8 and Jan. 13-15.
There will be no parish-led tree recycling in St. Mary Parish this year. The parish’s contract with the state ended last year and the parish hopes to regain funding and restart the program in future years, according to environmental officer Frank Cali.
The state’s tree recycling program fell victim to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget cuts earlier this year. To stave massive bleeding, lawmakers were forced to eliminate a number of programs.
During its 17 year existence, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources/Coastal Engineering Division’s Christmas tree recycling program collected more than 1 million trees, using them to create 40,000 feet of brush fencing. More than 250 acres of wetlands were protected through the project, according to the department’s website.
