CEER 2014 Field Trip: Hurricane Buffers: Going…Going…Gone?

                                                                                                           - Detailed Field Trip Information (PDF)

Hurricane Katrina flooded the New Orleans metropolitan area because of the failure of man-made levees and flood walls. But, it was the degradation of the natural ecosystem buffer that allowed so much storm surge to reach the city. The deadly waters came through Lake Borgne into the city directly, or by overwhelming the Orleans Landbridge separating Lake Borgne and Lake Pontchartrain and then into the city. We’ll see some of the natural and unnatural means Louisiana is using to save itself from future storms.

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CEER 2014 Field Trip: Diversionary Tactics–Reconnecting the river to the land

                                                                                                           - Detailed Field Trip Information (PDF)

Louisiana used to grow at a steady rate. Today it should be 60 square miles bigger than it was in 1930, but instead is 1,900 square miles smaller. Why?  Because federal levees have completely walled off the Mississippi River and for the past 80 years Louisiana land has compacted and subsided—sunk—while waiting for new replenishing sediment that never comes. But Louisiana has a plan to mimic Mother Nature by reconnecting the Mississippi to the marsh. You can see for yourself what we’re talking about during this field trip to the Bonnet Carre and Davis Pond river diversion structures.

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CEER 2014 Field Trip: Lafitte Swamp Tour

                                                                                                           - Detailed Field Trip Information (PDF)

Want to experience Louisiana’s unique swamp environment without getting your feet wet?  Then this is the field trip for you.  You’ll be up close and personal with the flora and fauna of the Barataria Preserve of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve directly south of New Orleans—and yes, this is where the famed buccaneer Jean Lafitte headquartered some of his most nefarious enterprises. You’ll get a guided tour over boardwalk and dirt trails that wind through the preserve and get a taste of Louisiana’s wild wetlands with 20,000 acres of bayous, swamps, marshes, forests, alligators, and more than 300 species of birds.

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