MANDEVILLE, La. (AP) – Donated seedlings and volunteer labor have let a Louisiana state park replace more than 400 of the cypress trees destroyed by hurricanes over the past two years.
Volunteers planted the trees Wednesday at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana State Parks said in a news release.
The park lost many trees to Hurricane Zeta in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021.
“While our Louisiana State Parks staff has made substantial progress in clearing debris and rebuilding our state parks that were hit hard by storms the past two years, there is still much work needed to bring back our parks,” said Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser.
Twelve students from the University of South Dakota, brought to Louisiana through a group called Common Ground Relief, were among volunteers from several organizations.
Also participating were St. Tammany Master Gardener Association, the Sierra Club's Delta Chapter/Honey Island Group, the Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater New Orleans, Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative, and the Rotary Club of Mandeville.
The department did not identify the trees' donor.
