Student volunteers

We need our students to help with the following events:

Tuesday March 26, 2019 -  AREA III CDE – McNeese Farm 7:30 a.m.  (signup sheet in ag office)

Saturday March 30, 2019 – 1000 Trees in 1000 Days – 8:30 a.m. Tuten Park

Refuge Biological Volunteer

Job Title: REFUGE BIOLOGICAL VOLUNTEER

 (Positions available at Cameron Prairie, Lacassine and Sabine National Wildlife Refuges)

Purpose:Gain experience operating and maintaining National Wildlife Refuge facilities, programs, and recreation areas through accomplishing designated assignments for and with refuge staff.

Brief List of Qualifications:

• A valid driver’s license
• Positive attitude and communications skills
• Willingness to learn about and do new things.
• Availability to provide a minimum of 4 hours of service per week with a minimum commitment of 40 hours total (arranged in advance with staff).  

Benefits:

• Networking opportunities within US Fish and Wildlife Service staff
• Strengthen and build your resume by learning and doing new things and building relationships with staff who may serve as references for you.
• Assist with or participate in exciting refuge or research projects.
• Independently create/complete your own project; work with staff to fulfill a Refuge need.
• Hands-on experience with bird banding, fish stocking, habitat management, etc.
• Volunteering in a peaceful environment where you can support wildlife and nature.

Volunteers Currently Needed to Conduct: 

• Visitor Center operations and maintenance: greet and assist visitors in person and via phone requesting info on Refuge programs and SW LA way finding; light maintenance /janitorial duties like sweeping, cleaning boardwalks, stocking toiletries, etc. This is a great way to become familiar with the Refuge activities and staff. (Cameron Prairie)
• Refuge upkeep and maintenance: litter pickup, weed eating, sign installation, painting, brochure stocking. (All Refuges)
• Lottery waterfowl hunt blind preparations and maintenance (Cameron Prairie)
• Hunt data form distribution/collection and data entry (All Refuges)
• Sign installation to guide hunters to Lottery Hunt Blinds (Cameron Prairie)
• Carpentry and painting projects (All Refuges)
• Fish Habitat creation for Festival Fishing Ponds (Cameron Prairie)

Contact: For a volunteer application or to learning more about how you can participate please contact Diane Borden-Billiot at diane_borden-billiot@fws.gov or call 337-598-2216 (o) or 337-563-3491(c).

1000 Trees in 1000 Days

Cameron Parish Dune Restoration Event: The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL), in partnership with Citgo, is excited to be returning to the Cameron coastline!  We will be planting 2 miles of beach with 28,000 plugs of native dune grass. The goals of this project are to increase soil retention along the beach, promote dune growth, provide critical habitat for nesting birds, and enhance protection to the coastal communities of Cameron parish.  Register by clicking the links below! Register Now For any inquiries regarding Cameron dune restoration, please contact or our Habitat Restoration Program Coordinator, Brittany Boyke at brittanyb@crcl.org.  Visit www.crcl.org for more information. Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana 6160 Perkins Road,Suite 225, Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Plant grass on Holly Beach

Gulf Coast Soil Water Conservation District is looking for volunteers to help plant grass on Holly Beach. The location begins on the western edge of the Calcasieu Ship Channel extending westward approximately 2 miles west of Holly Beach. The tentative start date is the last week of July, Monday the 25- through the duration of the project. We are looking for middle school age children and older. This is a great resume builder for college students. Please forward this to anyone who may be interested; school groups, boy and girl scouts, etc. I can be reached at andrea.gorum@la.nacdnet.net or at 337-4741583 ext. 3 for any questions.

Andrea Gorum

District Vegetative Technician

Gulf Coast Soil Water Conservation District

Volunteer to Restore Our Coastal Marshes and Oyster Reefs!

Marsh Restoration in Vermilion Bay:

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL), in partnership with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the Coypu Foundation, invite you to participate in our Freshwater Bayou Marsh Restoration events taking place this spring near Pecan Island. We will be planting over 50,000 plugs of native marsh grass near a newly created marsh site and we need your help! This project will assist in stabilizing the marsh soils with the intention of preventing future erosion and creating wildlife habitat.

Please click on the links below to register!

Upcoming dates:

Friday, May 13th
Saturday, May 14th
Friday, June 10th
Saturday, June 11th


Oyster Shell Project In Buras:

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) invites you to join us in Buras, LA! Launched in June 2014, CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program recycles shell from participating New Orleans-based restaurants and uses that shell to restore oyster reefs and shoreline habitat across Coastal Louisiana. We are looking for volunteers to help prepare the shell for a reef restoration project in Biloxi Marsh (east of the mouth of the Mississippi River). Volunteers will place the recycled shell into bags that will later be stacked on barges and transported to the oyster reef restoration site.  By helping prep the shell, volunteers play a role in creating a new 0.5 mile oyster reef that will allow for the growth of new oysters, create new fish habitat, and act as a wave break which will knock down storm surge and allow new land to build up behind the reef.

Upcoming dates:

Thursday, May 26th



For any inquiries regarding coastal forest restoration, please contact or our Habitat Restoration Program Assistant, Christa Russell, at christar@crcl.org.

For any inquiries regarding oyster reef restoration, please contact or our Oyster Shell Recycling Program Assistant, Sarah Pate, at sarahp@crcl.org.

 Visit www.crcl.org for more information.

AREA III Judging Contest

We will be having our AREA III judging contest this Tuesday, March 15th at the Farm.  In addition to your help, please encourage your students to come out and help.  This is a big event for us and we want to do a good job!

The sign-up sheets for each of the contests are in the office.  Please have your students sign-up!  This helps us with the University excuse.

Future Farmers of America events

Our department is hosting the Invitational Judging Contest at the McNeese Farm on March 3^rdand the Area III judging contest on March 15^th.  

Cypress plantings at Jean Lafitte National Park:

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) in partnership with For the Bayou and Entergy, is looking for volunteers to participate in a three-day Cypress Forest Restoration project at Jean Lafitte National Park on February 11th, 12th, and 13th. Volunteers will help transport and plant 750 cypress saplings. These native trees will help combat the spread of invasive Chinese tallow trees and, over time, will produce new nesting habitat for Bald Eagles.

 Upcoming dates:

Thursday, February 11th
Friday, February 12th
Saturday, February 13th


Tree plantings in the Caernarvon Delta:

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL), Restore the Earth Foundation (REF), and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) invite you to register for our Coastal Forest Restoration events taking place all winter long near Braithwaite.  We are looking for hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers to help us plant a total of 5,000 native trees in the Caernarvon Diversion outfall. By planting in this area of new land, you will help increase soil retention and promote more land growth! Your efforts will also help increase storm surge protection and forest resiliency for future storm events.

Upcoming dates:

Thursday, February 18th
Friday, February 19th
Saturday, February 20th

 Visit www.crcl.org for more information.

For any inquiries regarding coastal forest restoration, please contact or our Habitat Restoration Program Assistant, Christa Russell, at christar@crcl.org