The Nation - News from Dec. 29, 1988
Thousands of discarded Christmas trees will be tossed into Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, gaining new life as a dike against erosion. Residents are expected to contribute as many as 7,000 trees to build the barrier, said Robert Thomas, director of the Louisiana Nature and Science Center. Contractors hired by the state will dump the evergreens in the marshy area northwest of New Orleans, where they will be submerged in a line to form a sill, which will trap sediment as water washes over them. Erosion claims as much as 60 square miles of Louisiana each year, destroying some of the nation’s most productive habitat for seafood and waterfowl.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
