Chandeleur Islands Restoration Project
The remnant land mass of a 2500-year-old delta abandoned by the Mississippi River during one of its many changes in course since the last ice age, the Chandeleur Islands comprise a 72-kilometer-long barrier island chain located in easternmost St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, Louisiana. In 1998, Hurricane Georges passed within five miles of the islands and created more than 100 washover channels through the barrier chain making the island susceptible to erosion. By planting cordgrass before other large hurricanes occur, the life span of the Chandeleur Islands may be extended decades by retaining the washed-over sediment. Over 80,000 smooth cordgrass plugs and four-inch pots were planted in various washover fan locations on the landward side of the island. Finished in July 2001, this project marked the largest planting effort in CWPPRA to date.
