Colonial Employees Plant 275 Cypress Trees In South Louisiana

Colonial employees plant cypress trees in the Louisiana marsh 

By Ryan Rogers, Colonial Pipeline Co.

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La. – Colonial Pipeline employees recently planted 275 cypress trees in the Big Mar area of the Caenaveron Marsh in Plaquemines Parish near Colonial’s Line 07 pipeline. The tree planting was conducted in conjunction with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Restore Earth Foundation. 

Culture in South Louisiana 

Whether eating Cote de veau Rossalini, a $48 entrée at Antoine’s, one of the many dining institutions in New Orleans, or having a $3 roast beef po-boy at Blackie’s along Bayou Lafourche; if you listen in on the conversations of the locals around you, you get a clear sense of what’s on people’s minds in South Louisiana. 

No, they aren’t always talking about Drew Brees and the Saints, whether Alabama can tackle LSU’s Leonard Fournette, which crazy politicians get elected in Louisiana or what time they are meeting tonight to go to the fais do do. Most often, the conversations you overhear are about Louisiana’s coastal erosion. An issue that threatens everything the people of South Louisiana love, and everything they’ve given us culturally. 

The issue is so bad, that the recognizable ​“boot” shaped Louisiana you learned about in geography class as a kid isn’t a realistic depiction of the state anymore. Most of the area south of I‑10 now is more water than land these days. The state loses 27 football fields of land a day. It not only threatens people’s homes, but threatens to viability of major industries that operate in the area, primarily the oil and gas industry and the fishing and seafood trade. 

The leveeing of the muddy Mississippi River nearly a century ago stopped the natural flooding and depositing of river silt that built most of the land in South Louisiana. Without this depositing of sediment, land began to erode and salt water from the Gulf of Mexico started to intrude into Louisiana’s marshes. 

Colonial is committed to being a part of the solution

Colonial Pipeline made the decision to be part of the solution. Our operations in the area have demonstrated Colonial’s desire and willingness to work with local landowners, elected officials and government agencies to be a responsible operator and contribute to the restoration of Louisiana’s coastline. 

The tree planting was a collaboration of local landowner recommendations, local conservation groups need for assistance and local governments concerns about activity in the marsh. The trees are on a patch of marsh that has benefited recently from a fresh water diversion project designed to restore marsh. The hope is, the cypress trees will stabilize that patch of marsh and accelerate the land regrowth process. 

The area where the team planted trees is in route to our Line 07 in South Louisiana from our boat launch. The team will be able to view the progress of the trees daily as they traverse by boat to the ROW. It was a hard day’s work, sloshing around in the Louisiana marsh, but the team feels pride in the tangible contribution they made in Louisiana that day. 

Colonial is also working with the Department of Natural Resources and Corp of Engineers in Louisiana to construct a mitigation bank on the rim of Lake Lery to support the state’s restoration efforts. 

This project demonstrates Colonial’s values at its best. Nobody forced Colonial to get involved in protecting Louisiana’s coastline. But the values at Colonial we cherish made this an easy decision for us. Several environmental groups, elected officials and government agencies in Louisiana now know what we’ve always known about Colonial. We are committed to always trying to do the right thing. That’s what makes us a special company, one we are proud to be a part of.