Cypress Island Becomes Nesting Ground for Hands-on Children's Education

Date: 03/30/02

Breaux Bridge, LA—March 30, 2002—The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana has begun educational tours of their Cypress Island Preserve for surrounding elementary school groups. The project, underwritten by TexacoChevron, is part of the ongoing conservation and education project at Cypress Island Preserve. “We’ve had such a wonderful response from principals and teachers across the parish. They’ve been so cooperative in trying to arrange transportation, shuffle schedules, and so on. Working with them has been a real pleasure. Elementary-school children are at such a great age to appreciate the message of conservation. Their curiosity and enthusiasm about nature are contagious and a real treat to witness!," said Cindy Brown, Acadiana Program Manager.

The children's educational tour will begin near the boat landing and proceed down and around the lake to the rookery. In addition to viewing wildlife, the kids will learn about ecology and conservation of the bottomland hardwood forest and cypress swamp. The children will also be conducting a survey of the Roseate Spoonbill population. The data collected will be compiled and returned to the students in late April. The education program was developed around the Louisiana Department of Education's science and math benchmarks, as well as those published by the St. Martin Parish School Board, to generate the math questions regarding the spoonbill survey. “We’re very excited about our education program at Cypress Island. Our hope is that through this program, the children of St. Martin Parish will come to view this place with a pair of trained eyes...that they and their parents will realize just how special Cypress Island and all of Louisiana’s wild places truly are, and will want to help conserve them," said Brown.

The tours will be led by a diverse group of volunteers including graduate students from ULL and LSU studying ornithology, geology, wildlife photography and journalism, members of the ULL AmeriCorp Green Team, and other working and retired "nature lovers" from the local community. The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana is a part of the largest international non-profit land conservation organization that accomplishes its work by forming partnerships with corporations, foundations, individuals, federal agencies and state agencies who share concern for Louisiana’s natural resources. For over 15 years, The Nature Conservancy and their partners have conserved over a quarter of a million acres of the best of Louisiana. The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana: Saving the Last Great Places.