Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater New Orleans

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) invites you to participate in our Rutherford Beach Dune Restoration event on November 19th at Rutherford Beach in Creole, LA. We will be planting at least 10,000 plugs of native beach grass (bitter panicum) and installing sand fencing, and we need your help! This project will assist in growing and stabilizing beach dunes with the intention of preventing future erosion and creating wildlife habitat.

On this day volunteers will primarily help install 2500 ft of sand fencing to enhance 6 acres of dune habitat in the Calcasieu-Sabine Basin. The planting will be positioned in front of breakwaters to protect State Highway 82/27 – a critical Hurricane Evacuation Route – from erosion. This volunteer event will occur just a year following Hurricanes Laura and Zeta, both of which heavily impacted the Cameron coastline.

Important Information:

Directions and additional details will be provided to registered volunteers via e-mail a few days prior to the event.

Volunteer check-in will be from 9:00 to 9:30 am. Volunteers will be temperature screened at the registration table and sent home if temperatures exceed 100 °F.

Please note the minimum age for volunteers is 16. No one under 16 will be allowed to participate in any capacity. Minors are required to have a waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian and must be accompanied by an adult.

Planting on the beach can be a strenuous activity, so physical fitness is required.

All equipment (dibbles, gloves, etc.) will be provided to all volunteers.

Pre-made lunches and drinks will be provided to volunteers, with vegetarian options.

Closed-toed shoes are required.

We require that all volunteers please register to let us know if you plan to attend. If any additional members of your family/friends are attending, then they must also register.

Volunteering on our coast is a wonderful way to spend a day and we would like to ensure that everyone gets a chance to have a great experience.

If, after registering, you find you are unable to attend, please notify us of your cancellation.

If the event registration is full, you can request to be added to the waitlist by emailing hannah.cohen@crcl.org.

If you'd like to bring a group to volunteer, please let us know, and we'll try our best to accommodate you.

For inquiries about any of the above, you can contact our Native Plant Program Coordinator, Gardner Goodall, at gardner.goodall@crcl.org.