| [Image: Students pitch in] | | | | | | | |
What once were pastures now are wetlands – with water where cattle used to graze beside a levee near Pointe Aux Chenes. Seventh grade students at Montegut Middle School planted smooth cordgrass near the water’s edge at the foot of the levee.
The wetlands planting field trip on April 17 was under the direction of seventh-grade science teacher Cally Chauvin and LSU AgCenter fisheries agent David Bourgeois.
“I appreciate you coming here and helping with this program,” Bourgeois said to the students as they prepared to plant the marsh grass. “You’re part of our family.”
The smooth cordgrass was provided by the AgCenter and produced at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station in Crowley.
The activity was part of the Coastal Roots program, a partnership that includes the LSU AgCenter, the Louisiana Sea Grant College program, the LSU Department of Education and various local government agencies. The Pointe Aux Chenes activity was cosponsored by the Terrebonne Levee District and the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.
In addition to the support of the participating partners, Chauvin was able to obtain a $1,000 field trip grant from Target Corp. to fund the local activity.
“This is great. This is wonderful,” she said of the students’ participation. “This is their home. We’re going to plant this parish because we’re going to be here a while.”
Bourgeois said the students’ attitudes toward their environment have been enhanced by their participation in the Coastal Roots program.
“These students realize the potential of this project,” he said. “And they’re doing it in their own backyards. The most value is the stewardship they’re learning. They can learn it’s up to them to preserve this and protect their own homes.”
Rick Bogren
(This article was published in the spring 2007 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.) |