LICI Participates in the Town Grand Isle, La. Iris Bloom Tour on The Nature Conservancy's Property

March 26, 2023 Grand Isle, La.

The town of Grand Isle, La. organized a Louisiana iris and nature tour at one of The Nature Conservancy's properties on the island Saturday, March 25th. It was well attended, with about half of the attendees being from Grand Isle with the other half driving in from other areas.

Photo: LICI's Gary Salathe is seen in the center of the photo as the group begins the tour.

The guided tour was held at The Nature Conservancy's Lafitte Woods Nature Preserve. It was led by the site manager, Jean Landry. Jean's informative talk, which focused on the plants found on the property, also included historical facts about Grand Isle and her experiences, and the people she knew as she was growing up on the island.

Photo: Site manager, Jean Landry, is seen speaking to the group during the tour.

Gary Salathe, of the Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative, was invited as a special guest to talk about the Louisiana irises growing along the boardwalk and some portions of the trail. The bog on the property is one of LICI's most important iris restoration projects. This is the fourth year of the project, which has survived two direct hits from hurricanes in two years. The irises have multiplied and filled in much of the available space in the bog and have now become something of a tourist destination while they are blooming.

Photo: Louisiana irises are shown blooming during the town of Grand Isle, La.'s Louisiana iris and nature tour at the Nature Conservancy property.

At the end of the tour during Jean's closing remarks to the group she thanked LICI for turning the bog at the boardwalk into a very special place that has become another destination for people visiting the island. Gary said afterward, "all of LICI's volunteers should be proud of the fact that the hard work that it took to rescue the irises, take care of them at our iris holding area, and then plant them at the Nature Conservancy property has turned into such a successful iris restoration project."

LICI Participates in Tour of Sankofa Park by President of National Urban League

March 12, 2023 New Orleans, La.

Sankofa Wetlands Park and Nature Trail's founder and chief executive officer Rashida Ferdinand's invited Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative's Gary Salathe to lead a tour of the blooming irises at an event held at the park for former New Orleans mayor and current president of the National Urban League, Marc Morial. The event took place on Saturday, March 11, 2023 at the Sankofa Wetlands Park in the lower ninth-ward neighborhood of New Orleans.

Photo: Attendees of the event begin to arrive. The leaders of numerous neighborhood non-profits and churches were invited to the special event.

Mr. Morial was the guest of honor at the event, which was to mark a milestone in the park's history and to thank everyone involved in the groups that have volunteered at Phase I and II of the beautiful wetlands park to bring it to its current state of completion. The park received funding last year to complete the final stage of construction. Construction is underway and almost finished for the entire length of the lagoon system.

Representatives of every community group in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood were invited, as well as all of the partner groups that are helping to make the park a reality. LICI's representative was just one of many other leaders from non-profits and organizations that supply volunteers to the park or take on projects there.

Photo: LICI's involvement at Sankofa Wetlands Park goes back to the first Louisiana iris planting there in December 2020. Volunteers from multiple groups are shown

planting irises at that event.

LICI has an important Louisiana iris restoration project at Sankofa. They are using the park as a location to have their rescued native I. giganticaerulea species irises multiply so they can be thinned out in the future to be used in marsh restoration projects. "Of course, a huge added benefit is that the irises are available for the public to see while they are blooming," LICI's Gary Salathe says. He added, "We're all about raising the awareness of this special native Louisiana plant with the public and people in positions of authority." That certainly happened this morning as Salathe took not only Marc Morial, but also a group of local dignitaries and non-profit leaders on a tour of the blooming irises at the park.

Photo: The event at Sankofa Wetlands Park coincided with the peak iris bloom. The blooming Louisiana irises put on a show for everyone who attended the event. The blooming irises shown in the photo are part of the original 2020 iris planting. They can be seen blooming along the shoreline of the lagoon into the far distance.

Photo: An alligator laying on a log near the irises put on quite the show for the

gathering at park on March 11th.

After the group saw a demonstration of plant and animal life in the waters of the park giving by the staff, Salathe was asked to give a tour of the blooming irises to the group. The tour was supposed to be brief and only for a short walk. Instead, Mr. Morial wanted to walk the entire length of the shoreline that held the blooming irises. He quizzed Salathe during the walk about the Louisiana iris and its place in the habitats of the marshes and swamps of Louisiana.

Photo: LICI's Gary Salathe, on left, is seen at the start of the tour of the blooming Louisiana irises at Sankofa Park at the event. Marc Morial is seen in the center of the photo wearing the gray T-shirt. Sankofa CEO, Rashida Ferdinand, is to the right of him.

At the end of a tour of the blooming irises, Mr. Morial thanked LICI and its volunteers for the work they have done at the park to create a repository of native Louisiana irises to be used in future restoration projects. Salathe said afterward, "This morning was a very meaningful event for all of the groups involved at Sankofa. It's hard to think of anything better than to have LICI's volunteers and the volunteers from other groups publicly recognized and thanked for all of the hard work they have done at the park. That happened this morning. We really appreciate it."

Information on Sankofa Wetlands Park and Nature Trail can be found here: https://sankofanola.org/wetland-park-and-nature-trail/

Information on the National Urban League can be found here: https://nul.org/mission-and-history

LICI Releases Its 2023 Map of Places to See Native Louisiana Irises in Bloom

March 2, 2023 New Orleans, La.

The Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative has released its 2023 interactive map of places to see native Louisiana irises in bloom. Go to the map by clicking HERE

You can zoom in on the map to find the exact location of each site. You can click on each location’s icon to be taken to a site page with details on the location and photos.

Each site is ranked from the best to almost best by LICI. Their ranking can be found on the goggle map page.

LICI's Gary Salathe says, "It is important to keep in mind that there may be more locations where native irises can be seen blooming that are more difficult to get to or are on private property. Our goal is to direct the public to areas where it is safe and easy to see this treasured native Louisiana plant while they are blooming, including the state wildflower, the I. giganticaerulea species of the Louisiana iris."

Louisiana irises this year have already begun to bloom in many of the locations shown on the map, which is about two weeks earlier than in previous years. The bloom typically lasts until the middle of April, with the peak bloom in the middle. This year, at some locations, the bloom may be over by the end of March. Each location can start and finish blooming at different times from the others.

LICI will be putting up regular Facebook postings of updates from their roving group of volunteers on how the bloom is coming along at each location. They hope to be able to give some advance notice of a least a week from when the peak bloom will be taking place at each location. Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative Facebook page can be found by clicking HERE.