{"id":5641,"date":"2015-05-14T09:20:02","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T14:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gnof.org\/?p=5641"},"modified":"2015-05-14T09:20:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T14:20:02","slug":"wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/","title":{"rendered":"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/205443961&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWetland Resources plants hurricane resistant trees to protect Louisiana\u2019s coastline.<\/p>\n<p>Demetra Kandalepas is a senior scientist at Wetland Resources. We\u2019re on the way to visit their bald cypress and tupelo nursery. It\u2019s in the middle of a marsh. We drive down a muddy path next to a huge, raised pipe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis pipe it empties all of Hammond\u2019s secondarily treated effluent,\u201d explains Kandalepas. \u201cWhich is all the poop. It\u2019s secondarily treated, which means all the solids and bio solids have been removed. Whatever is left over has been completely sterilized. What\u2019s being dumped into these plants is fresh water and nutrients. So the plants love it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We stop and duck under the pipe where water is streaming out, and suddenly, in the middle of the marsh, we\u2019re standing on a wooden platform, which is essentially the Wetland Resources nursery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey basically look like boat docks,\u201d explains Kandalepas. \u201cWe built all these. In between where the slips are, that look like where the boats might be docked is where we plant the cypress and tupelo trees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what\u2019s coming out of the pipe is what\u2019s flushed down the toilet in Hammond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the most expensive step in water purification. It requires a lot of electricity so the city of Hammond is saving hundreds of thousands a year by doing this. This is cleaned by the plants. The water moves slowly through the marsh, and as it does, the plants take in the nutrients and fresh water. By the time it\u2019s 400 meters out there\u2019s no nutrients detected in the water. It\u2019s completely drinkable, swimmable\u00a0and fishable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to Wetland Resources, not only does Hammond\u2019s wastewater get cleaned, but young trees \u2013 destined to replenish the wetlands along our vanishing coastline \u2013 are grown in the perfect conditions.<\/p>\n<p>In most places, \u201ccypress and tupelo are grown incorrectly,\u201d declares Demetra\u2019s partner at Wetland Resources, Gary Shaffer. \u201cThey\u2019re grown like corn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaffer says in marshes, cypress and tupelo trees are anaerobic. They don\u2019t need air. But most places grow these trees aerobically, with air.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo they\u2019re grown in aerobic conditions. They make aerobic root systems. And then you take that same tree and stick it in an anaerobic soil and the roots don\u2019t work anymore. So they actually have to kill their root system off and grow a new one which is suited for wetlands. We start out in wetlands so the root system is already completely adapted to where they\u2019re going. You stick them in the ground and they just start growing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cypress is a conifer with needles and the tupelo is a broad leaf. They\u2019re both very beautiful and very strong in hurricanes. Just about impossible to blow these trees over. The final destination of these trees is the Central Wetlands which is east of St. Bernard and south of New Orleans. It used to be 30,000 acres. MRGO\u00a0in the early 60\u2019s killed it in all of two years by bringing salt water in. We\u2019d love to turn the whole thing into cypress tupelo swamp.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaffer says coastal Louisiana\u2019s biggest problem is saltwater intrusion. Not only do cypress and tupelo protect against hurricanes, they build back the land through their roots, which trap sediment, and their leaves, which decompose extremely slowly in the marsh. But these trees die in saltwater. Restoration requires freshwater.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the key,\u201d declares Shaffer. \u201cAnd Louisiana has a surplus of water. Wasted water is all over coastal Louisiana. All of the toilets that get flushed in coastal Louisiana, that\u2019s wasted water that we could be using to hugely benefit our wetlands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After these young trees are matured using Hammond\u2019s wastewater, Wetland Resources loads them on sleds in the wetlands near Violet, tie the sleds around their waists, and walks through the mud to replant what was destroyed by the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. It\u2019s slow going.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now our team is lucky to get about 400 seedlings in the ground every day,\u201d laments Shaffer, \u201cbecause you have to protect each tree against nutria, and the protection is very cumbersome. It takes two people 5 minutes to get something done out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So they invented a contraption called a Grow Shelter, which could increase the number of trees they can plant in one day from 400 to as much as 4,000.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo once you get out into the field you shake the tree through the bottom of the pot and the pot telescopes into protection and it\u2019s already around the tree,\u201d explains Shaffer. \u201cSo you don\u2019t have to build it, you don\u2019t have to wrap it. It\u2019s all done. So instead of 5 minutes it maybe takes 30 seconds to plant a tree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once they\u2019ve patented the Grow Shelter and mass produced it, Wetland Resources will be able to do large scale restoration work. In other words, they\u2019ll be able to save the coastline faster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you go out in the field and you get 400 trees in the ground and you\u2019re driving home and that\u2019s seven people, it\u2019s not enough,\u201d says Shaffer. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough to be satisfying. If that same day had 4,000 trees in the ground, that\u2019s a massive restoration you just did in one day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Written by Eve Abrams for the Community IMPACT Series and produced by WWNO in partnership with the Greater New Orleans Foundation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wetland Resources plants hurricane resistant trees to protect Louisiana\u2019s coastline. Demetra Kandalepas is a senior scientist at Wetland Resources. We\u2019re on the way to visit their bald cypress and tupelo nursery. It\u2019s in the middle of a marsh. We drive down a muddy path next to a huge, raised pipe. \u201cThis pipe it empties all&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":5642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677,30],"tags":[147,834,350,853,146,666,855,854,832,100],"class_list":["post-5641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-small-feature","category-our-community","tag-coastal-issues","tag-coastal-restoration","tag-community-impact","tag-cypress","tag-environment","tag-eve-abrams","tag-swamp","tag-tupelo","tag-wetland-resources","tag-wwno"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster | Greater New Orleans Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster | Greater New Orleans Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wetland Resources plants hurricane resistant trees to protect Louisiana\u2019s coastline. Demetra Kandalepas is a senior scientist at Wetland Resources. We\u2019re on the way to visit their bald cypress and tupelo nursery. It\u2019s in the middle of a marsh. We drive down a muddy path next to a huge, raised pipe. \u201cThis pipe it empties all...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greater New Orleans Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-14T14:20:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Wetland-Resources.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Communify Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Communify Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/\",\"name\":\"Greater New Orleans Foundation\",\"description\":\"The Greater New Orleans Foundation is the community foundation serving the 13-parish region of metropolitan New Orleans.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Wetland-Resources.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Wetland-Resources.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"man with boots on planting trees in the wetlands\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/\",\"name\":\"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster | Greater New Orleans Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-14T14:20:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-14T14:20:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#\/schema\/person\/fcfdc3f3854c9135aab71d54b073ccac\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#\/schema\/person\/fcfdc3f3854c9135aab71d54b073ccac\",\"name\":\"Communify Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e15c88e1635281d8b26e1ba363edd86c0c79da9ae9a20c6705bcc1c7e01710?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e15c88e1635281d8b26e1ba363edd86c0c79da9ae9a20c6705bcc1c7e01710?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Communify Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/author\/communify-team\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster | Greater New Orleans Foundation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster | Greater New Orleans Foundation","og_description":"Wetland Resources plants hurricane resistant trees to protect Louisiana\u2019s coastline. Demetra Kandalepas is a senior scientist at Wetland Resources. We\u2019re on the way to visit their bald cypress and tupelo nursery. It\u2019s in the middle of a marsh. We drive down a muddy path next to a huge, raised pipe. \u201cThis pipe it empties all...","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/","og_site_name":"Greater New Orleans Foundation","article_published_time":"2015-05-14T14:20:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Wetland-Resources.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Communify Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Communify Team","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/","name":"Greater New Orleans Foundation","description":"The Greater New Orleans Foundation is the community foundation serving the 13-parish region of metropolitan New Orleans.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Wetland-Resources.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Wetland-Resources.jpg","width":800,"height":800,"caption":"man with boots on planting trees in the wetlands"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/","name":"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster | Greater New Orleans Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-05-14T14:20:02+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-14T14:20:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#\/schema\/person\/fcfdc3f3854c9135aab71d54b073ccac"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wetland-resources-invents-ways-to-save-coastline-faster\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wetland Resources Invents Ways To Save Coastline Faster"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#\/schema\/person\/fcfdc3f3854c9135aab71d54b073ccac","name":"Communify Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e15c88e1635281d8b26e1ba363edd86c0c79da9ae9a20c6705bcc1c7e01710?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7e15c88e1635281d8b26e1ba363edd86c0c79da9ae9a20c6705bcc1c7e01710?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Communify Team"},"url":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/author\/communify-team\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5641"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5643,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5641\/revisions\/5643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/gnof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}