A volunteer-heavy effort to restore some of Louisiana’s eroding coast with recycled oyster shells was part of the scenic backdrop for a visit from the head of AmeriCorps, the federal agency that deploys volunteers to serve communities around the nation. Michael Smith, the CEO of AmeriCorps, visited a staging area Wednesday in the town of Violet, where he got a look at huge piles of oyster shells, many collected from Louisiana restaurants, that are being used to build reefs along the vulnerable coast. The new reefs also provide new breeding ground for more oysters.
