The Louisiana Logging Council, Drax Biomass, Hunt Forest Products, LaSalle Lumber Co. and Kisatchie National Forest are offering an opportunity for loggers to learn about Complimentary Forest Management, At-Risk Species, Timber Extraction and Restoration efforts on the Calcasieu District.
Read MoreIt's that time of year again! The West Louisiana Forestry Festival returns to Leesville October 2nd through the 6th at the Vernon Parish Fairgrounds located at 276 HM Stevens Blvd.
Festivities include a Junior, Teen, and Miss pageant held the two weekends preceding the festival. The Vernon Parish 4-H Club will have their horse show on September 29, 2024 beginning at 9:00 AM. On September 30, 2024 beginning at 5:30 PM the Woodsman Skills competition takes off and continues on October 1, 2024 at the same time.
Read MoreWoodland Biofuels, Inc., announced a planned $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana to establish one of the world’s largest renewable biofuels production facilities. The Toronto-based company would utilize waste biomass to produce sustainable biofuel used in transportation, heating and electricity generation.
If the project moves forward as outlined, the company expects to create 110 direct new jobs with an average annual salary of more than $90,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates that the project would result in 259 indirect new jobs for a total of 369 potential new jobs in the Southeast Region. Woodlands Biofuels estimates that the project would create approximately 500 construction jobs.
Read MoreBrooks Mendell, founder, president and CEO of Forisk Consulting, was one of the guest speakers at the 77th annual convention of the Louisiana Forestry Association.
His company does extensive research in the industry throughout the United States and Canada. During the late August event, Mendell sat down with us to talk about the forest productions industry in Louisiana for the September episode of Minding the Forest, LFA's podcast.
Read MoreUncontained wildfires can quickly engulf homes and infrastructure, leading to significant economic losses, displacement of communities, and health risks due to smoke. They also present significant threats to forests, grasslands, and other natural habitats, leading to the death or displacement of countless animals and plants.
Providing firefighting teams with the best technology improves their chances of containing wildfires before they cause widespread damage.
Read MoreOn the night of August 24, Vernon Parish volunteer fire departments and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) fire crews were dispatched to the area off Highway 465 north of Simpson. Investigators say that on August 23, after the logging crew left for work, several pieces of logging equipment and timber caught fire.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Forestry Association is hosting its annual convention around a year after the state saw unprecedented damage from several wildfires, including one here in Southwest Louisiana known as the Tiger Island Fire.
Read MoreHave a dead tree in your yard from the dry summer last year? It could be infested with beetles, making it more likely to fall. Lawmakers are looking for an emergency declaration to get people funds to remove dangerous trees before that happens.
After the drought of 2023 that cost the state millions of dollars in agricultural losses, more than 12 million trees across the state are dead because of it. Those dry conditions make the perfect home for the ips beetle to dig into the bark, further weakening the tree.
Read MoreThe sound of leaves crunching underfoot follows Cakey Worthington as she makes her way into a forest of pine and oak trees in the Atchafalaya Swamp. She stops at a rebar marker placed in the ground then walks up to a tree nearby.
“We come back every five years to remeasure all the trees in this location,” she said, cicadas singing nearby.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Legislature’s House Emergency Beetle Subcommittee held its second meeting at the state capitol on August 14 to discuss the state’s infected trees and find potential solutions.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is announcing a funding opportunity through the hazardous fuels transportation assistance program to reduce wildfire risk, expand and create market opportunities, and support local jobs. This program is available to local businesses and partners that remove hazardous fuels from national forests and transport the material to be processed for wood products or services.
Read MoreThe Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) provides technical and financial assistance to owners of nonindustrial private forestland whose forestland was damaged by a qualifying natural disaster event.
Read MoreLouisiana agriculture generates approximately $3 billion in sales each year, but in most years agricultural productivity is negatively affected by hurricane damage. Louisianans are familiar with the devastation and loss of life and property that can accompany a hurricane event as the state experiences, on average, one hurricane every three years. The total economic losses from a single hurricane can reach tens of billions of dollars, while agricultural losses can exceed one billion dollars. Louisiana is a major agricultural producer for the United States, but the structures, livestock, and crops are highly exposed to extreme wind and flooding during hurricane events.
Read MoreLSU AgCenter researcher Richard Vlosky has helped secure $300,000 in funding for a project to support a regional mass timber supply chain connecting underrepresented populations and communities in the South with consumers and developers along the Eastern Seaboard and Mid-Atlantic.
Vlosky, professor and director of the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center in the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, is part of a team that brought in the 2024 U.S. Forest Service Wood Innovations Program Grant.
Read MoreFriday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making $190 million available to help private forest landowners adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change and retain working forestlands.
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