Recent Programs and Events

September 2022

LAND TRUST ALLIANCE RALLY 2022

Woodlands Conservancy was able to take part in this year’s National Land Conservation Conference in a very special way. At Rally 2022, we led a field trip into our property to share our work with land conservation practitioners from all around the country. Dr. Craig Hood joined us and spoke about the research on bats that he conducts on our trails. During the conference, Woodlands Conservancy participated as a co-presenter in a workshop entitled “No Land Trust is too Small to Conserve Wildlife with Federal Partners”. Below is a brief video made by Mary Pfaffko, Defenders of Wildlife who led the workshop and attended the Field Trip at Woodlands Preserve.

TC Energy Foundation Contributes to Forest Restoration

Woodlands Conservancy is thrilled to announce the addition of a new partner in forest restoration. Woodlands Conservancy recently received notice of their successful grant application during a conference call with representatives of the TC Energy Foundation. The grant of $39,000 for “Forested Wetland Assessment and Restoration” will be used for forest restoration and Citizen Science monitoring at Woodlands Preserve.

Woodlands Conservancy actively works to preserve and restore 840-acres of forested wetlands in the Greater New Orleans region. These forests protect local residents by serving as a natural sponge to absorb storm water run-off, provide a wind buffer to protect our homes and businesses, serve as a habitat corridor for resident wildlife and migratory birds and a recreational venue for the community.

“With the recent acquisition of the 650-acre Woodlands Preserve property”, said Katie Brasted, Executive Director, “we are excited to move forward with major restoration activities knowing the property will be protected in perpetuity for the benefit of current and future generations”. The grant from the TC Energy Foundation will partially match funding from Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority and increase funded elements of Woodlands Conservancy’s Forest Management Plan. The project will focus on improving habitat for birds and enhancing the public understanding of the benefit of land protection and restoration to the surrounding community. Outreach and education via public engagement in Citizen Science and restoration activities will provide both habitat improvement and local involvement in forested wetland restoration.

July 2022

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

Woodlands Conservancy was recognized by Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality as a member of the Environmental Leadership Program. The department recognizes organizations committed to improving the quality of Louisiana’s environment through pollution prevention, waste reduction and other environmental improvements.

March 2022

Students of NOCCA Plant Trees

These students spent their day giving back to their community by planting trees. With their help, 90 new trees were planted along the trails at Woodlands Conservancy. We are thankful for their efforts!

April 2021

Woodlands Conservancy Featured in USA Today

Woodlands Conservancy was featured in an article by USA Today, in which the WWII ammunition magazines were discussed. The article begins:

“There’s a preserve of forested wetlands hidden on the western bank of the Mississippi River south of New Orleans. A six-mile trail loops through looming cypress trees and tall brush. At the end of the trail, 10 identical earth-covered cement domes are hidden behind the wall of trees.

“These inconspicuous structures, known as ammunition magazines, are relics of a forgotten piece of New Orleans’ military history.

“They were once used by the U.S. Navy to store black gunpowder used in torpedos and warheads during World War II and the Korean War.”

CASAMIGOS SPONSORS COCKTAILS FOR CONSERVATION

Casamigos, an ultra-premium and award-winning Tequila and Mezcal created by longtime friends George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman are the title sponsor of Curbside Cocktails for Conservation benefiting Woodlands Conservancy. “Casamigos tequila was always intended for personal use, to be shared with family and friends” said Casamigos representative Bailey Penot. “Woodlands Conservancy is excited to share it with our friends,” said Katie Brasted, Executive Director. “We are thrilled to be working with Casamigos and Espiritu to raise funds to support land conservation.”

Casamigos Curbside Cocktails for Conservation will be held Thursday, April 22, Earth Day, at Espiritu Mezcalería and Cocina in New Orleans beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are available on Eventbrite. During the event, Master Mezcalier, Jason Mitzen, will lead a tasting of 3 Casamigos Tequilas and 1 Mezcal. Trained and certified in Mexico, Jason will guide guests through the intricacies of the special selection of Tequilas and Mezcals. Following the tastings, guests will receive instruction in the creation of two cocktails including a special signature spring cocktail, Espiritu of Woodlands. Guests will be served some botanas (snacks) during the event and have the opportunity to view Espiritu’s menu created by Nanyo Dominguez, Executive Chef and owner should they decide to stay for dinner.

January 2021

ALLIANCE REFINERY SUPPORTS THE COMMUNITY

The Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse wrapped up 2020 having strengthened non-profit organizations in the region with more than $604,867.26.

“We are committed to supporting our community using the company’s philanthropic focus areas as a guide,” said General Manager Ray Rigdon. “However, we recognized that the pandemic was an unprecedented challenge and we pivoted to support our frontline community responders as well.”

Notable donations from the refinery supported the Phillips 66 focus areas (Environment & Sustainability, Education & Literacy and Safety & Emergency Preparedness) and included Woodlands Conservancy.

November 2020

LA ANG 159^th FLIGHT MEMBERS HELP WITH ZEDA RECOVERY

A volunteer work weekend couldn’t have come at a better time for Woodlands Conservancy. Over the weekend of November 14 and 15^th,159th Fighter Wing Warrior Flight members volunteered for debris removal and trail clearing at Woodlands Trail in Belle Chasse.

“We are helping clean the nature trails following the hurricane damage,” said Jonathan Lyons, Warrior Flight member.  “It means a great deal to me.  I love helping the community and giving back if I can.”  Lyons, a Westwego native, joined the unit in December 2019.

“Today, they’re working on our bird-banding net lanes along the trails,” said Katie Brasted, Woodlands Conservancy Executive Director.  “It is absolutely fabulous to have a group that, I know, will do a great job.  They’re dedicated, used to working hard, long hours and they don’t give up.”

DR. CRAIG HOOD LEADS BAT WATCH HIKE

On November 6, members of the community got to participate in in a Bat Watch with Dr. Craig Hood, Loyola University. The group utilized specialized iPads to pick up on the sonar of various bat species. Since January 2020, a bat monitoring station has been operating at Woodlands Trail about ½ mile down the Bottomland Trail near the Bat Houses and first bridge.   To date, we’ve documented (recorded) 7 species of bats, including Red/Seminole and Yellow, Hoary, Big Brown, Evening, Tricolored, and Mexican freetail bats!     These are all the first records of bats occurring at Woodlands and the records are being added to the National Bat Monitoring Program Network. 

Woodlands Conservancy Partners with Chevron Oronite Oak Point on Virtual Education Series

Woodlands Conservancy has partnered with Chevron Oronite Oak Point to expand a virtual educational self-directed platform, COVID – Resources, that aims to keep communities informed of environmental educational activities during the pandemic. Woodlands Conservancy is producing a series of 16 new sessions called Wetland Wednesdays that airs on Facebook weekly at 9 a.m.  now through the first week of January. Chevron Oronite is also supporting the design and production of a new Woodlands Trail map brochure and an Upland Trail Interpretive Guide that visitors can use to learn about various tree species at Woodlands Trail. 

“As the pandemic persisted, the numbers of visitors to Woodlands Trail tripled,” said Katie Brasted, Executive Director of Woodlands Conservancy, “With more youth involved in remote learning and general disruption in everyday normalcy, we began offering COVID-Resources, to address the growing quest for safe, educational and fun activities that families could do with their children.” “When our plans to support Woodlands Conservancy’s Seeds to Saplings environmental service learning program was disrupted by the pandemic, Chevron Oronite was agile in shifting our environmental project support to enhance this digital educational tool within the communities in which we live and work”, said Brett Cooley, General Manager, Americas Manufacturing and Supply.    

JUNE 2020

PHILLIPS 66-SPONSORED RESTROOMS NOW OPEN AT WOODLANDS TRAIL

Public restrooms largely funded by Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery and supplemented with contributions from Woodlands Conservancy’s supporters are now open at the Woodlands Trailhead at 449 F. Edward Hebert Blvd. in Belle Chasse.  Phillips 66 donated $165,000 for the project and officials cut the ‘ribbon’ of toilet paper at the facilities on June 19.

FEBRUARY 2020

Entergy funds Seeds to Saplings for Orleans students

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the 2019-2020 school year, Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund (EIF) made Woodlands Conservancy’s Seeds to Saplings program possible for fourth graders at Alice Harte Elementary in Algiers.  82 students participated in the Seeds to Saplings service learning program with Woodlands Conservancy.  These were all students in three separate classes taught by one teacher at Alice Harte.  The Seeds to Saplings program involves six lesson plans spread throughout the school year that focus on teaching students about the function and value of wetlands through a variety of hands-on learning activities.  Program activities are linked to fourth grade benchmarks in order to augment indoor classroom goals with activities in the “outdoor classroom”.

During planting activities at Woodlands Trail in Spring 2020, students from three classrooms at Alice Harte were assisted in their activities by teachers and parents/family members.

SAVE OUR SPONGE CONCERT WITH SWEET CRUDE

Wow, what a night.  Sweet Crude played a really fun set, and knew just how to get the most out of a crowd.

Thank you to all of our sponsors, host committee members and everyone for coming out to the party last night, it was such a great turnout.  A special thanks, as well, to all 56 local businesses who donated some really amazing things to the silent auction.  It was a huge success, and we couldn’t do everything we do without you.  This overwhelming show of support from the community is what gives us the drive to keep fighting for these vital ecosystems.  Together we really can make a difference.

JANUARY 2020

Monday, January 27th might have been wet, and a little brisk but students from Ursuline Academy were determined to jump right into the mud to help save Louisiana’s coastal forests.  The canal at the front of the park has been eroding, over the years, from storm surges and subsidence causing habitat loss for our friendly water loving mammals like otters and beavers.  Students from Ursuline Academy shored up the bank with over 150 large trees. Impressively, only one student fell in!

Belle Chasse Primary Students visit Woodlands Trail

Students from Belle Chasse Primary came out to Woodlands Trail as part of their fourth lesson in our STEM education program: Seeds To Saplings. They learned all about the trees in their local forest. While learning about the impact native and invasive plants have on the ecosystem, they got to get outside and apply what they had learned about in the classroom.

Each student planted a cypress seed that will one day grow up to be a tree planted in their community park. Then they each collected a leaf from their favorite tree to make cards to invite their local elected officials to attend their classroom’s upcoming tree planting.

The Seeds to Saplings program in Plaquemines Parish is made possible by Chevron Oronite.

DECEMBER 2019

Phoenix students visit Woodlands for Seeds to Saplings

Thank you to Chevron Oronite for making the Seeds to Saplings program possible in Plaquemines Parish. Last week 4th grade students from Phoenix School visited Woodlands Trail. For many students this was the first time in a forested wetland, and despite the cold, we all had a ton of fun! During this trip we took a hike, explored some of our native and invasive trees, planted a new generation of bald cypress seeds, and crafted cards to invite friends and family to plantings happening in the new year.

Restore Your Coastal Forest Day

Thank you everyone who came out for Restore Your Coastal Forests Day.  It was a beautiful day to enjoy the forest at Delacroix Preserve.  Working together we restored Water Tupelo populations in just under 6 acres, planted 175 trees, 100 of which were Water Tupelo; Essentially increasing the declining population of these majestic trees twenty-fold! Restore Your Coastal Forest Day was made possible by Restore America’s Estuaries and CITGO Fueling Good.

OCTOBER 2019

Rice Day at Woodlands Trail

We are so humbled that the NOLA Rice University Alumni Association came out to celebrate #riceday by helping us build up some animal habitat zones with over-winter nutrition plants.  We planted several dozen mid-story trees and palmettos to help our migratory birds feel safe while obtaining the vital nutrition that they need as they get ready to make the long journey across the Gulf of Mexico.  As one of the last forested wetlands remaining in Southern Louisiana, reestablishing native fall-fruiting plants is an essential step in bolstering the migratory birds whose populations are in steep decline.  Many of these bird species are completely reliant on forests like ours to stop, rest, and refuel before their long flight.  It is more important than ever to not only save these habitats, but restore them, in order to save these avian species from becoming endangered.

Chevron Oronite Volunteer Day

Our friends at Chevron Oronite joined us to kick off wildlife month at Woodlands Trail by helping us clean up and restore an ecological restoration plot.  Plots like these are vital to the conservation of our forests; creating welcoming habitats for our wildlife. You may have seen some of these areas if you are out hiking our trails.  To establish these plots we conduct surveys to determine areas with the highest level of invasive tree incursion. Once the invasive trees have been removed, we plant hardwood trees to replace the trees that were unable to reestablish on their own due to competition from the invasive flora.  The final step is to plant fruiting trees and beneficial understory plants to provide healthy nutrition for our resident, and migratory wildlife. None of this would be possible without the support from amazing volunteers and our friendly conservation-minded community members.

AUGUST 2019

Sip to Save the Wetlands

Thank you to the hundreds of folks who came out to Second Line Brewing on Thursday, August 15 to Sip to Save The Wetlands.

It was a great evening to get together with family and friends to learn more about Woodlands Conservancy, get some native plants and help celebrate Woodlands Conservancy’s 18th Anniversary.

A special thanks to all of our friends for making Sip to Save the Wetlands a successful event:

• Second Line Brewing
• NPI Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans
• Silent Voices Raccoon and Wildlife Rehabilitation
• the Green Project

JUNE 2019

Groundbreaking at Woodlands Trail

On June 10, we officially broke ground on our facilities at Woodlands Trail. Say goodbye to the port-a-potties! The new facilities at the trailhead will have running water, electricity, and beautiful native-forward landscaping.

We’re humbled by the show of support from everyone that made this possible, and want to give a special thanks to the Plaquemines Parish President and Council for supporting the CEA to make this possible and to Phillips 66, Senator Troy Carter, Rep. Chris Leopold and community members that helped make the restroom facilities a reality.

MAY 2019

GNOF staff visit on GiveNOLA Day!

 

GNOF Staff Members, Isabel Barrios, Richard Martinez, Ella Delio, and Bonita Robertson paid a visit to Woodlands Conservancy staff at Woodlands Trail on GiveNOLA Day to help celebrate accomplishments and raise awareness.

During GiveNOLA Day 2019,  93 supporters of Woodlands Conservancy’s work to preserve and restore forested wetlands contributed $7075!  With an additional contribution from GNOF’s Langniappe Fund, Woodlands Conservancy received $7161 to support its mission.

APRIL 2019

A Happy Ending for an Endangered Tortoise

Please please don’t keep endangered species as pets!!! This poor Gopher Tortoise was found abandoned at Woodlands Trail. These animals are endemic to dry, sandy longleaf pine forests, and can live to be 60 years old. These tortoises need to dig deep burrows to be happy, and our water table is just too high for their needs. Woodlands Trail is a wet bottomland hardwood forest. If he had survived at all, he would have been doomed to a long, lonely, uncomfortable life.

Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending. Woodlands Conservancy’s Field Biologist, Todd Benkart, was able to get in touch with the amazing folks over at Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Natural Heritage Program. They came down the following morning to relocate him to one of the last three breeding populations left in Louisiana. So now he can live a long, happy, and comfortable life.

FEBRUARY 2019

Spring Planting Season Completed

Students from Ursuline Academy.

For over a decade Woodlands Conservancy has been working with students, interest groups and community volunteers to help restore the forest by planting seedlings and trees each winter-spring season.  This planting season, over 1000 seedlings and trees were planted through the Seeds to Saplings program, volunteers from Ursuline Academy, Chevron, One Brick NOLA, and community volunteers. Through education and action, together we will win the fight to save our forested wetlands!

Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine (above) and Erin Genrich, Environmental Educator (left) observe and provide guidance to students from Belle Chasse Elementary during their Seeds to Saplings planting day.

Since 2013, Woodlands Conservancy has been working with fourth grade students in area schools to expose them to environmental issues that effect their communities.  During the 2018-2019 school year, Woodlands Conservancy worked with five classrooms in Plaquemines Parish with funding provided by Chevron Oronite.  Woodlands worked with four classrooms in Orleans Parish with funding provided by the Brown Foundation.

JANUARY 2019

 Save Our Sponge Concert –

A Piano Night with Tom McDermott & Joe Krown

On January 31, 2019 Woodlands Conservancy celebrated World Wetlands Day and 18 years of Woodland Conservancy’s work to Save Our Sponge, the 840 acres of bottomland hardwood forest serving as a protective storm water and wind barrier for the Greater New Orleans area.  The kick-off to the evening was a Patron Party featuring music by Leah Rucker’s Quartet, an open bar and gourmet appetizers with ACME Oyster House providing an oyster bar.  The Save Our Sponge Concert featured pianists Tome McDermott and Joe Krown.  The event was sponsored by Phillips 66, Palazzo Law Firm, Power System Specialists and Katie and Carl Rosenblum.