March 3, 2024 Pierre Part, LA
The Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) has begun a new iris restoration project in the small town of Pierre Part, LA, in the middle of Louisiana's iris country within the Atchafalaya Basin swamp. Many people only became aware of the small village once the History Channel's TV program Swamp People aired in 2010. The show features the Landry family, among others, from the towns of Pierre Part and nearby Belle River and their adventures in the nearby swamp hunting alligators.
Beryl Gomez is shown at LICI's iris planting in Pierre Plat on March 2, 2024.
Beryl Gomez, Secretary/Treasurer of Assumption Parish Recreation District No. 2, contacted LICI about the possibility of the group donating some of its rescued irises for planting in two projects in town that she is involved in: one is in Veterans Park, an important location for the recreation district, and the other is at the proposed Pierre Part Belle River Museum site.
This December 2023 photo shows the new kayak launch. The bayou shoreline on either side of the launch offered the possibility of planting irises if the existing brush and
bulrushes were removed.
Veterans Park is in the center of the small town, and a kayak launch was recently installed as part of their Water Trails initiative. She was introduced to LICI by one of the members of the T.E.C.H.E Project, who told her of LICI's work planting or donating irises at the kayak launches that are part of T.E.C.H.E Project's Bayou Teche Paddle Trail. Gomez thought planting Louisiana irises along the shoreline of the bayou at the new kayak launch would be a great addition to the Park's native plant program.
Gomez felt that the small cypress swamp at the future Pierre Part Belle River Museum entrance would be a great location to introduce visitors to the native Louisiana iris.
Land for the Belle Part Belle River Museum has been donated, and funds are in place to build it. The museum will sit on a site covered with live oak trees and include a boardwalk into a nearby swamp. It also has a small cypress swamp along the highway where the entrance to the museum complex will be. The idea was that irises could be planted in the cypress swamp at the entrance now so they could be thinned out after the boardwalk is built to plant irises there.
On March 2, 2024, the first site at the future museum was planted with irises using local volunteers and LICI's volunteers, who drove in from other areas to help out.
When Gomez contacted LICI's president and founder, Gary Salathe, he said that he thought the sites and the project would fit LICI's goals. This was confirmed after Salathe made a trip to Pierre Plat, met Gomez, and visited the two sites. "I was impressed not only with the two locations but also with Beryl's enthusiasm for projects, " he said.
Gomez spread the word locally about LICI's iris donation and asked for help planting the irises. Although the town is in the center of the Atchafalaya Swamp, there were no public displays of the native I. giganticaerulea species of the Louisiana iris, which is found in abundance in the swamp. She received an excellent response to her call for volunteers.
Salathe also sent out a request for help to LICI's volunteers and was surprised that quite a few were willing to take the long dive to reach the remote town to help.
This photo shows the volunteers who planted the irises at the future museum site. They planted about 250 irises in only 1 1/2 hours. (The gasoline-powered auger in the photo just right of center was a huge labor-saving device for the volunteers.)
Salathe delivered 500 Louisiana irises to the museum planting site on the morning of March 2, 2024. They had been dug up by volunteers from LICI's New Orleans iris holding area over the previous two days. "These were the last of the irises our volunteers had rescued in 2023, so the Pierre Plat planting finished up our iris planting season," Salathe said.
Half of the irises were planted at the museum site after Salathe and Gomez gave the opening remarks and a safety talk. One of the local volunteers brought a power auger to the site, which significantly reduced the volunteers' work in planting the irises.
Volunteers begin work at the second site later on the morning of March 2nd.
Gomez had a park contractor, who had volunteered to do the job at no cost, clear out all of the brush and cattail plants along the shoreline of the bayou at the second site; the new kayak launch in Veterans Park. He accomplished the job the week before the planting event, so all was ready for iris planting day.
Most of the future museum site volunteers relocated to the kayak launch, along with the remaining 250 irises, where they were met by some new volunteers who wanted to help out, too. The twenty-eight volunteers got to work, and in a short time, the irises were planted along the bayou's shoreline.
The irises at the kayak launch were planted in over a 100' of bayou shoreline on one side of the launch and in an area about 30' long on the other side.
Gomez's plan called for more native plants to be added on the slope above the irises within the following month. An irrigation system is also to be added. The park wants the kayak launch to be a welcoming and beautiful location for the kayakers that they hope will come from outside the area.
The volunteers at Pierre Plat's Veterans Park, the second iris planting site in town, are shown after planting the last iris.
At the end of the event, after being profusely thanked by Gomez and Darrel Rivere, President of the Pierre Part Belle River Museum non-profit, Salathe summed up: "We appreciate Beryl and the folks in Pierre Part and Belle River for welcoming us into their communities to help them become part of the native plant and habitat restoration movement which is growing in leaps and bounds throughout Louisiana. Having the chief of the fire department and a police officer at the kayak launch to direct and slow down traffic to make it safer for the volunteers was fantastic. We also hope that our blooming donated irises will one day be another draw to bring visitors to their beautiful and historic towns.
"We'd also like to thank Darrel Rivere for prepping the museum site for us, coming up with the idea of using a power auger to help plant the irises, and just generally being so enthusiastic, friendly, and helpful to us and all that attended the event. His and Beryl's excitement for getting the irises and having them planted rubbed off on the volunteers as we all worked together."
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