Louisiana Plant Materials Center Helps Stop Coastal Erosion
The United States Department of Agriculture runs the Louisiana Plant Materials Center in Galliano, Louisiana next to the airport. The Plant Materials Center plays an important role in coastal protection projects because they are assigned the task of finding suitable plants to use in areas where marshland is being rebuild or protected. The Center is very important to those working on coastal wetland projects, but largely unknown to the public. It is on 90 acres with greenhouses and fields to simulate marsh. The Center can test plants for many years before using them in coastal protection projects.
Dr. Richard Neill, the Center's manager and Garrett Thomassie, the assistant manager, are evaluating the plants that nature has given us and trying to determine which ones create the greatest soil stabilization in various environments. Some of the projects that they have worked on include projects for the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, Port Fourchon, re-vegetation of City Park in New Orleans, and re-vegetation of the Naval Air Station at Belle Chase.
If you are interested in learning more about the Louisiana Plant Materials Program, you can arrange a tour by calling (985) 475-5280. Also see, the Saturday June 21, 2008 article at WWL-TV entitled, Plant Center grows plants that halt coastal erosion.
Erich P Rapp.
