Grand Isle is a town in Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on a barrier island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico.

Grand Isle's main street is the seaside start of Louisiana Highway 1 (LA 1), which stretches 436.2 miles (702.0 km) away to the northwest corner of the state, ending near Shreveport.

LA 1's automobile causeway at the west end of the island is the only land access to or from Grand Isle.

Even though damage was essentially limited to power outages and beach erosion, the storm's strength still caught residents by surprise.

Hurricane Katrina pounded Grand Isle for two days, August 28–29, 2005, destroying or damaging homes and camps along the entire island.

Hurricane Gustav reached shore west of the island on September 1, 2008, at 9 am CDT, and hit it with a measured wind speed of 105 mph (169 km/h).

Hurricane Ike passed far south of the island on September 11, 2008, while crews worked to restore power and repair the levee/dune damage caused by Gustav.

Entergy decided to fully rebuild and strengthen the island's power grid instead of repairing it like most communities north of Grand Isle had received.

[10] It is a $14 billion fund that is hoped to be allocated over 50 years in around 77 restoration projects with the aim of creating a sustainable ecosystem of coastal Louisiana.

[10] On February 18, 2000, the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources signed an agreement to initiate a restoration plan to this basin.

[10] These include barrier shoreline restoration, marsh creation in the southwestern basin, and a delta-building diversion from the lower Mississippi.

[11] According to the project documents, if successful, the Sediment Delivery system could potentially create 18 square miles (47 km2) of marsh a year and reduce wetland losses by as much as two-thirds.

[11] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put up $3 million in the summer of 2009 in federal stimulus grants to restore a protective marsh that will shield the island from backwater flooding.

[14] In 2009, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources used $3 million to dredge sediment from the Mississippi River and create 50 acres (20 ha) of tidal marsh.

[14] Not only will the marsh help support recreational and commercial fisheries by providing a healthy habitat, officials said, but it will also buffer the island and reduce storm surge and flooding.

[16] In response the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the Coalition and the National Wildlife Foundation organized the planting of more than 1,600 mangroves in Grand Isle State Park on June 25, 2011.

[27] Residents of Grand Isle had a median household income of $43,333 in 2019,[28] and an estimated 22.3% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.

Grand Isle State Park, on the east end of the island, is the only state-owned and operated beach on the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The project was then picked up a year later by the Barataria-Terrebonne Nation Estuary Program to help in the development and preservation of the habitat as well as the advertisement of the Grand Isle Migratory Bird Festival.

Each day during the festival, multiple tours are given throughout the diverse habitats of Grand Isle where experienced guides instruct beginner birders on the different techniques used to find and identify birds as well as the ecological aspects of the island.

Other tours are offered that guide visitors through the chenier forests and teach them about the native plants found on the island, including the species that are not only edible to birds but to people as well.

Other features of the festival include bird banding and mist netting demonstrations, seminars on what to look for when choosing a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, as well as games and other activities.

Described as a barrier island, Grand Isle consists of mainly marsh habitat, beaches and chenier forests which attract numerous species of migratory birds.

[35] The Migratory Bird Festival is held annually and coincides with the arrival of the spring migrants returning from their winter habitat in the south.

[34] Because of the slightly higher elevation, chenier forests not only allow for the growth of hardwood trees that support the variety of migratory birds that pass through Grand Isle, but also act as a barrier for salt water intrusion into a marsh during storm surges.

[41] The trails mainly consist of tracts procured by the Grand Isle Nature Conservancy or donated by local landowners.

Although slightly smaller than the Port Commission Marsh, the Grilleta Tract is mostly chenier habitat and is considered the center of the Grand Isle Birding Trail.

The Grand Isle Port Commission Tract is roughly 22 acres and is located on the western part of the island at the corner of Ludwig Lane.

[33] Two hundred eighty feet of boardwalk allow access to the salt marsh tidal ponds that dominate the area.

In addition to the hardwood forest, the property contains salt flats and marshland, which promote the habitation of ducks, moorhens, grebes, and other wading birds.