People who prefer putting up a fake Christmas tree are a little more lax when they take down their trees. Around the Gulf Coast, there’s also a pretty good reason to keep it up: Mardi Gras.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Scott Eccleston left a grooved trail in the sand as he dragged his old Christmas tree to a pile on Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday. Strips of tinsel still hung from its branches.

An army of volunteers joined the Brazoria County Parks Department and Surfside Beach on Saturday for the annual Dunes Day, ...

Each year, thousands of Christmas trees are donated by Jefferson Parish residents and repurposed to combat coastal erosion. Volunteers gather to place the trees in the Barataria Basin, where they are ...