LDWF Biologist Program Manager Duck Locascio holds a longleaf seedling at Bogue Chitto State Park.
Longleaf pine forests were once ubiquitous in the Southeast United States with more than 90 million acres. But today only less than 5% of the original longleaf pine range remains.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is working to restore this important ecosystem by planting longleaf seedlings throughout the state. Earlier this month, in cooperation with Louisiana State Parks, LDWF planted 70 acres of longleaf seedlings on Bogue Chitto State Park in Washington Parish.
The park is located near Franklinton and adjacent to the newly created Bogue Chitto Wildlife Management Area (WMA), overseen by LDWF. The planting was made possible through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation-America The Beautiful Challenge. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization that funds wildlife and habitat conservation projects.
“Habitat restoration is a key part of our mission at LDWF,’’ LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said. “And longleaf pine restoration is vital to many parts of our state, including the Florida Parishes, where this planting occurred. Bringing back this ecosystem will help numerous wildlife species, some of which are threatened by loss of habitat. We’re pleased to partner with Louisiana State Parks on this and want to thank our partners who made it possible.’’
The seedlings generally reach commercial maturity in 40-50 years and can easily live 300 years or more.
The work was done in a new section of the park. Purchase of that land – and Bogue Chitto WMA - was made possible by funding from Louisiana Outdoors Forever Fund and the partnership of The Trust for Public Lands.
Click here to learn more about land management in Louisiana. And for more information on this restoration project, contact LDWF Biologist Program Manager Duck Locascio at dlocascio@wlf.la.gov.