Avery Island, Louisiana (AP) — As storms intensify and Louisiana loses its coast, Tabasco sauce-making families are fighting wetland erosion that buffers factories from hurricanes and floods.
Harold “Took” Osborn, CEO and President of McIlhenny Co.’s founder’s great-grandson, said the effort as a whole is probably a standoff.But in a losing state 2,000 square miles (5,200 sq km) Since 1932, holding your ground on that coast is a victory.
The company has been brewing Tabasco sauce on Avery Island, the tip of a mile-deep salt pillar since 1868, and now fills up to 700,000 bottles per day and sells in 195 countries and territories. doing.
on the other hand Land that sinks Problems across Avery Island, southern Louisiana, with four small salt domes still remaining along the Gulf It rises slowly.
However, the danger of hurricanes remains. A 20-foot (6.1-meter) $ 5 million embankment now surrounds about 40 acres (16 hectares). Tabasco Hurricane Rita’s storm surge pushed floods within inches (centimeters) in 2005, causing the factory.
Much of the wetland work is low-tech, recruiting volunteers to plant wetland grass on 30,000 acres (12,100 hectares) around a small island just north. Barataria Bay, One of the areas Hit the hardest By the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Oxford holds a master’s degree in environmental science from Oxford University, but conservation is in his DNA. The company’s founder, Edmund McIlheny, was a self-taught naturalist. Osborne’s great-grandfather, EA McIlheny, created a breeding ground for egrets on the island in 1895 due to the approaching birds. extinction By a hunter who sold feathers to decorate a woman’s hat.
In recent decades, McIlheny has stepped up wetlands to armor coasts, shed sediments, and slow waves enough to form new lands, according to Osborne. I made it. “But it’s the grass that works best for the least amount of money,” he added.
When he steers a company boat, 58-year-old Osborne points to a stretch of grass that stretches deep into the swamp. It was open water 10 years ago. It is a canal of oil fields that has expanded over time.
Its mouth was closed by planting a mass of Smooth cord glass Where the bottom is less than 1 foot (30.5 cm) below the surface, it is a few feet away.
New shoots sprout from underground stems while the grass traps the sediment. “It works and starts walking,” Osborne said.
Grass is also planted along other parts of the coastline. In some places, rows of grass run about 20-30 yards (18-27 meters) along the banks. One of last year’s hurricanes, either Laura or Delta, pulled out a wide strip of grass behind a jerky row.
The company also blocked at least 15 of the many canals created by oil companies as shortcuts through the wetlands, Osborne said. He said oil companies that wanted to work in the area blocked some of them as part of their contract.
According to Mark Shirley of Louisiana Sea Grant, the restoration of wetlands around Avery Island has the added benefit of helping to protect northern cities and towns. “Storm surge and hurricane protection is directly related to the wetlands between you and the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.
After leading the summer 4-H class called Marsh Maneuver for over a decade, Shirley is familiar with the planting process. One day, a crew of 16 high school students pulls up enough grass masses from a healthy place to fill two flatboats and plants them along the coastline or at the mouth of the canal.
“After a year or so, each small chunk was 10 or 12 times larger, producing 1 or 2 acres of grass,” he said.
Multiply this by 4 classes and other groups each summer to add up.
McIlhenny Co. Heath Romero, the land manager of the canal, says it will take about 10 years for the canal to be completely filled.
The family also played a major role in the creation of the Rainey Conservation Alliance to facilitate large-scale wetland restoration and coastal conservation projects spanning 187,000 acres (75,700 hectares) in the Parish of St. Mary, Iberia and Vermilion. Neighboring private landowners and the Audubon Association are other members of the group.
They have rounded up at least $ 80 million in grants — from $ 1.3 million in state surplus to extend coastline conservation projects to $ 24.9 million. Exchange Over 400 acres (162 hectares) of wetlands have been killed by saltwater intrusion and restoration of freshwater flow.
A Demonstration project Designed to protect 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares), with narrow steps Ridge Height 5-6 feet (1.5-1.8 meters) — up to twice the standard height. Some have been planted with trees, while others have been prepared as breeding grounds for seabirds and charadrii.
When the hurricane barry struck three months after the project was completed in 2019, the wetlands behind the terrace were undamaged. report It was commissioned by Audubon, Louisiana, which owns part of the wetland.
“They (ridges) are expected to last 50 to 100 years instead of 20 or so,” said Eric Johnson, director of the state’s bird conservation department.
This partnership is based on the idea that what is good for our neighborhood is good for me. John Foret, who was formed in 2010 and worked in the group as an employee of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when he became Executive Director in October, said. ..
Wetland restoration is more than protecting five generations of family business, Osborne said. “My family understands that the land is very good for us and it is our duty to respect, respect and protect it,” he said.
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Follow Janet McConnaughey on Twitter: @JanetMcCinNO
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