University of Louisiana at Lafayette AmeriCorps members waded into knee-deep water to shore up marshland against erosion and create new wildlife habitat.
About 15 UL Lafayette students took part in a revegetation effort in May that was coordinated by the Vermilion Soil and Water Conservation District. They “seeded” an area of Little Vermilion Bay with California Bulrush, a native grasslike plant, as part of the conservation project.
The students had to get on their hands and knees to embed stalks of the plant into the floor of the bay, said Judd Jeansonne, UL Lafayette AmeriCorps program director.
“They were going into the marsh and physically sticking the plants into the mud. It was a tough sell at first, but they ended up really enjoying it,” Jeansonne said.
The revegetation project, begun in 1994, is carried out with assistance from state agencies and public and private volunteers.
About 6,250 “plugs” of California Bulrush were planted this year over two days, according to Mitzi Dohrman of the conservation district.
Marina Ledet, 20, a sophomore biology major from Abbeville, La., was glad to do her part for environmental stewardship, but only after swallowing some initial trepidation about entering the water.
“ I wasn’t so worried about alligators, but I definitely do not like snakes,” Ledet said.
The revegetation project is one of a range of community service projects undertaken by the UL Lafayette AmeriCorps.
Since Americorps was established on UL Lafayette’s campus in 1995, about 500 members have provided more than 300,000 hours of community service in areas such as education, housing and natural disaster response.
AmeriCorps was created in 1993 when the National and Community Service Trust Act was signed into law, creating a network for community service projects.
For more information about UL Lafayette AmeriCorps, visit http://americorps.louisiana.edu.