LICI Participates in CRCL Meeting to Learn About Funding for Abbeville Swamp Protection

August 14, 2025 Abbeville, La

The Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) participated in the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) Coastal Restoration Roadshow held in Abbeville, Louisiana, on Wednesday, August 13th. LICI’s president, Gary Salathe, attended the meeting, joined by a member of the family that owns the largest tract of land in the Turkey Island Swamp, now known as the Abbeville Swamp, with whom LICI has been working closely.

The purpose of the roadshow was to allow CRCL staff to hear directly from the public about the challenges facing their communities and their ideas for potential hurricane protection or habitat restoration projects. This outreach is an important step in broadening CRCL’s efforts into southwest Louisiana.

Following an overview of CRCL’s work, participants divided into small group table discussions, each moderated by a CRCL staff member. Salathe’s table included representatives from the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana SeaGrant, the National Wildlife Federation, a local coastal activist, and the Abbeville Swamp landowner representative.

During the table discussion, Salathe shared information on the Abbeville Red iris (Iris nelsonii), outlining the threats to its native habitat in the Abbeville Swamp and proposing the use of small water control structures to manage tidal flow. He also highlighted LICI’s conservation efforts, along with its partners, to protect the I. nelsonii species of the Louisiana iris, more commonly known as the Abbeville Red iris, in Vermilion Parish's Palmetto Island State Park.

Photo: CRCL 2024 fact finding meeting in Terrebonne Parish.

While the CRCL moderator at the table was already familiar with LICI’s annual iris bloom map and activities in southeast Louisiana, the Vermilion Parish iris restoration projects were new to him and generated significant interest. He was engaged with questions and took detailed notes on LICI’s efforts.

As each table summarized its discussions near the end of the meeting, the most pressing parish-wide issues identified included the need for hurricane protection levees, reducing saltwater intrusion in the Vermilion River, narrowing the Four Mile Cut, and rebuilding coastal marshes.

Over the past year, members of the Vermilion Parish Police Jury’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Committee have been meeting with CRCL to begin planning solutions to these challenges. Several committee members also attended Wednesday night’s meeting to reaffirm the urgency of taking action.

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Committee is developing projects to present to CRCL to address the projected land loss over the next 50 years (shown on the map) and to design a hurricane protection levee system.

At this point in the meeting, Salathe had the opportunity to emphasize to the group that the water control structures proposed by LICI for the Abbeville Swamp are essential to addressing tidal flow problems inadvertently created by past parish-wide drainage projects. He also noted that these smaller-scale, near-term solutions can provide critical protection for the rare Abbeville Red iris while larger restoration projects are still in development.

Importantly, there was consensus among participants that highlighting the conservation of the Abbeville Red iris could strengthen broader proposed restoration and hurricane protection projects by demonstrating additional ecological and cultural benefits. Salathe received encouragement to refine the proposal for the Abbeville Swamp protection and restoration and return with more detailed recommendations at the next CRCL meeting scheduled for September 25th.

In preparation, LICI is working with members of the family who own the largest tract of land in the Abbeville Swamp. A second site visit by boat is planned to further document the swamp’s hydrological connections to Young’s Coulee and Young’s Canal, which will inform the development of the restoration plan.

After the meeting, Salathe said, "We greatly appreciate CRCL’s commitment to engaging local voices and value the opportunity to align our efforts with their mission. We were also encouraged to see the Friends of Palmetto Island State Park recognized as a partner in CRCL's Vermilion Parish initiative. LICI looks forward to continued collaboration in protecting Louisiana’s coastal habitats and their unique native species."

During the table discussion, Salathe shared photos from slide presentations he has given over the past two years in Vermilion Parish, highlighting the challenges to the long-term survival of the Abbeville Red iris in the Abbeville Swamp and outlining possible solutions. You can view one of those presentations HERE.