Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program

Mark your calendars: our 14th Annual Bayou Lafourche Cleanup is just ONE MONTH away! Each year, hundreds of volunteers remove (literally) tons of trash from all 106 miles of Bayou Lafourche, split between 13 sites from Donaldsonville to Leeville, in an effort to protect the bayou and its resources. In 2024, we were joined by over 300 volunteers who removed 9.22 tons of trash from the bayou. Beyond its natural beauty, recreational uses, and bountiful flora and fauna, Bayou Lafourche is critical to South Louisiana and our community. We all benefit from the bayou every single day. It provides drinking water to over 300,000 citizens across Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption, and Ascension Parishes, and sends fresh water and sediment to our fragile coastal marshes in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. It’s also a great economic driver for South Louisiana as the only potable water source for Port Fourchon and the offshore energy industry based there. The event is free to attend, and all supplies and snacks (and a free t-shirt!) will be provided. All ages are welcome, but minors must be accompanied by an adult 18 years or older. Limited sponsorship opportunities are available! For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/3Dc6Ijh To register now, visit: https://bit.ly/3DjRzwj To become a sponsor, visit: https://bit.ly/41McMYY Questions? Email Emily Braud at [email protected]!

Today, our BTNEP Green Team members found this surprise on Elmer’s Island beach during our monthly marine debris cleanup! ??Pictured are goose barnacles, species Lepas anatifera, a filter-feeding crustacean that usually lives on hard surfaces such as rocks and driftwood, as seen in the video. But what exactly are they doing? These barnacles are attempting to filter-feed, which is when aquatic animals “feed” on organic matter or smaller organisms that are suspended in water, by passing the water over a specialized filtering organ. Thankfully, our Green Team came to the rescue to return the hungry and stranded barnacles to the water! ??

We had a packed house for our 110th BTNEP Management Conference this month — thank you to all who attended, and thank you to St. Charles Parish Government and Parish President Matt Jewel for hosting us! Attendees heard from Vic Landry, Assistant Deputy District Engineer, and Darrel Broussard, Special Projects Coordinator from the US Army Corps of Engineers, about progress on the Upper Barataria Basin Risk Reduction project, an update from Cassidy Lejeune, Director of Conservation Programs Ducks Unlimited the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, and from John Troutman, Regional Operations Manager of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, about current and planned freshwater diversions in the upper Barataria Basin. We also heard from Jason Broussard, Program Manager, and Kelly Jefferies, Associate Grants Manager, of Royal Engineering, on behalf of the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government about their marine debris removal project. Missed the meeting? Watch the meeting here: https://lnkd.in/er5TN7-b

Check it out: on February 6, 2025, Joshua Sylvest documented a Ferruginous Hawk, the largest Buteo hawk species in North America, in Thibodaux, Louisiana! The sighting was a great treat to bird enthusiasts as this hawk is normally only found in the western portion of the continent.

Love is in the air! ?? ?? The Great Backyard Bird Count starts this Friday, February 14th! Join more than 210 countries or sub-regions, watching, learning about, and celebrating birds. To participate, count for as little as 15 minutes at least once over the four days. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) connects you to the beauty around you while helping scientists better monitor and learn about migration patterns, year-to-year changes, and long-term trends for the birds around us. If you're interested in taking part in this event, the GBBC runs from midnight February 14 to 11:59 pm February 17. More information can be found at https://bit.ly/3bIZkvm.

TOMORROW is our Q1 Management Conference! Join us at the Edward Dufresne Community Center, located at 274 Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway in Luling, at 9:30 am. We’ll hear from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about progress on the Upper Barataria Basin Risk Reduction project, an update from Ducks Unlimited on their restoration efforts in the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, and from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority about current and planned freshwater diversions in the upper Barataria Basin. We’ll also hear from Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government about their marine debris removal project. If you’re unable to attend in person, you can join via Zoom at: https://bit.ly/3CD4YPL THIS FRIDAY, February 14th, is your final chance to submit a proposal for BTNEP funding for fiscal year 2026! Each year, BTNEP funds dozens of projects throughout the estuary, working with local individuals and organizations to implement our Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) and ultimately helping us to fulfill our mission to protect and restore the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary. Over the last three decades, we’ve funded a multitude of small and large-scale projects throughout the estuary, including water quality monitoring and improvements, invasive species management, habitat restoration, wildlife conservation, marine debris removal and advocacy, estuary education and outreach, and support of social and cultural events and amenities. If you’d like to work with BTNEP, you can learn more about submitting a proposal at: https://bit.ly/48c2lOg

2025 has been off to a great start! Last week, several BTNEP staff members had the pleasure of visiting the new Glass Half Full facility in Chalmette! Glass Half Full is a glass recycling facility, based out of New Orleans, that originated in 2020 after the co-founders set out to not only address a waste problem, but to find a meaningful use for the city’s discarded glass. Using special machinery outfitted with optical sorters, glass is crushed, cleared of plastic and paper, and sorted by color. Some of this glass will remain as cullet, pieces prepared to be remelted into new glass, and some pulverized into sand, where it will find a second life in restoration projects, flooring, new glass products, and more! Thank you to Fran, Glass Half Full Co-Founder, and Beck, an ecologist at Tulane University, for giving us a peek behind the scenes of this impressive operation!

Our first Management Conference of 2025 is just ONE WEEK away! Join us on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 9:30 am at the Edward Dufresne Community Center, located at 274 Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway in Luling. We’ll hear from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters about progress on the Upper Barataria Basin Risk Reduction project, an update from Ducks Unlimited on their restoration efforts in the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, and from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana about current and planned freshwater diversions in the upper Barataria Basin. We’ll also hear from Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government about their marine debris removal project. To register, please email us at [email protected] or call our office at 985-447-0868.

Notice: our February Farm Friday, scheduled for February 7th, is canceled due to damage from the snowstorm. Join us for the next Farm Friday on March 7, 2025!

Did you miss our "FY26 Solicitation for Project Ideas and Action Plan Team Participants" webinars? No worries, you can check out the recordings below! Webinar 1: https://bit.ly/3WGlR2R Webinar 2: https://bit.ly/3WFkGAA More information about the solicitation: https://bit.ly/48c2lOg (Both webinars cover the same information.) Questions? Email us at [email protected].