Just 48 hours after artificial "floating islands" were installed in Lake Pontchartrain to protect and nurture the Bucktown marsh, the innovative $50,000 project was declared a bust. "Within two days, some of the islands had broken apart," said John Lopez, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
Now officials look to transfer all 17 of the islands to Lafreniere Park, where they won't be battered by the same waves that undid them in the lake. If they work, the additions will expand the Metairie park's Marsh Island and encourage more wildlife there.