One tree at a time, volunteers and activists grow a new forest of Louisiana cypress trees Young trees may already provide a degree of hurricane protection Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Near the St. Bernard-Plaquemines Parish line, not far from the Mississippi River, 20-25 foot tall cypress trees appear as though they have been there for decades. In fact, most of them are less than a decade old. “This tree is flushing out with the spring and, for all intents and purposes, it looks really, really happy,” said Eva Hillmann, Ph.D., a coastal scientist with the Pontchartrain Conservancy.