New Orleans flies thousands of recycled Christmas trees into wetlands to rebuild marshland
New Orleans collected about 9,000 discarded Christmas trees and airlifted them into coastal marshes, creating roughly the equivalent of 200 football fields of restored habitat.
In March 2025, New Orleans gathered nearly 9,000 real Christmas trees, removed all ornaments, and tied them into bundles of 50-60 trees each. Helicopters, operated with the Louisiana Army National Guard, lifted three to four bundles at a time and dropped them in straight lines across the Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge near New Orleans East. The trees form semi-permeable fences that reduce water velocity, encouraging sediment to settle and build up the marsh floor.
This sediment buildup creates higher, more stable ground where marsh grasses can establish, eventually forming a natural ridge that dampens wave action. Project leader Pon Dixson noted the trees are a temporary scaffold while vegetation and sediment create lasting protection. Studies dating back to 1997 show the method can halve wave energy and add up to 1.3 inches of sediment annually, though success varies with site conditions.
Why it matters
The initiative turns holiday waste into a tool that helps slow Louisiana's severe coastal erosion.
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