The record
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- New Orleans collects thousands of residents' used natural Christmas trees each year and, working with federal and National Guard partners, drops them by helicopter into coastal marshes at Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge.
- Nearly 9,000 trees were collected in March 2025, and the bundles act as permeable barriers that slow water, trap sediment and help marsh grasses take root.
- Louisiana has lost nearly 2,000 square miles of coastal land since the 1930s due to erosion, storms, rising seas, sinking ground and reduced sediment from the Mississippi River.
- The programme has run for nearly 30 years and scientists say it has helped create and stabilise hundreds of acres of marshland, though it works best as part of larger restoration efforts.
What to watch next
- Updated official estimates of how much land the programme has restored, since reported figures have varied between about 115 acres and roughly 330 football fields.
- Whether future tree drops are placed in shallow enough water, as the 1997 study found success depends heavily on location.
- Continued coordination between the city, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Army National Guard in coming years' collections.
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Named United States · Lake Borgne · Lake Pontchartrain · Louisiana · Madisonville · Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge · City of New Orleans · Ecotias · Louisiana Army National Guard · Mississippi River · New Orleans · Pon Dixson · US Fish and Wildlife Service
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