“It really works – we’re doing it.”Īs evidence, throughout their dredging cells, the pair now sees alluvial flows – mini deltas of mud fanning out across the marsh. “The learning curve has been rather bumpy,” said Karen, expanding upon the challenges of figuring out the finer points of moving sediment, but she quickly added that progress was improving. Initiated and partially funded by TogetherGreen, a collaborative project between Audubon and Toyota, the John James’ work officially began on November 22, 2010, and for the past year Karen and Timmy have become part-time dredge operators in an effort to combat erosion in the sanctuary.Īs with most new ideas, progress started slow. Put simply, the pair hopes to demonstrate that small, independent dredges have the potential to create new land in areas where erosion and subsidence currently threaten wetlands and property lines. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary, where the dredge operates. And while reconnecting the Mississippi River to its delta is ultimately the only sustainable way to save Louisiana’s coast, the National Audubon Society’s Louisiana Coastal Initiative team has devised a way to put short-term local restoration efforts affordably in the hands of local property owners.įor this, enter the John James, a 24-foot dredge operated by Karen Westphal, Audubon’s Atchafalaya Basin program manager, and Timmy Vincent, senior sanctuary manager for the Paul J. Louisiana coastal restoration often seems like a distant process – a product of reports and large-scale projects.
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