(NEW ORLEANS - December 9, 2006) - A group of employees from the New Orleans office joined in an effort to restore the city's largest urban park on Saturday, December 9, 2006. New Orleans City Park was devastated by Hurricane Katrina when it was inundated by high salinity waters for weeks after the hurricane, killing much of the local plant life. The one day event focused on planting trees to stabilize the soil and reduce land loss as well as improve habitat areas for local fish and wildlife.
Angie Minton, a Senior Planner from the Atlanta office, organized HDR’s participation in the event. Minton is on a long-term assignment at the New Orleans office to work with the New Orleans District Army Corps of Engineers Protection Restoration Office. Her work involves restoring the coastal ecosystem as part of the Hurricane Protection System effort for which HDR is providing project management services on a team headed by Evans-Graves Engineers, Inc. of New Orleans.
Jimmy Johnston, the new Office Manager for HDR's New Orleans office, joined in the event, digging holes for new trees along Bayou St. John, a key part of the local estuary system that connects to Lake Ponchartrain. Johnston recently joined HDR after a distinguished career as the Louisiana Coastal Ecosystems Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The park restoration event served as the kick-off for the 3rd National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration, which featured presentations by HDR employees from our New Orleans, Corpus Christi, and New York offices on coastal restoration projects.