Tag: Louisiana

History of Forest Research in the South, 1921-1933

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
For 40 years, Philip Wakeley researched southern pines for the USDA Forest Service. Wakeley was one of the first Forest Service R&D employees in the South. He began his career in 1924, at the Southern Forest Experiment Station in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Station was established in 1921, and in the 1990s would merge with…  More 

Which Bat Is That? The Smell Will Tell

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service contract science writer  • 
For the first time, people can distinguish one bat species from another by smell alone. Scientists from the USDA Forest Service and Arkansas State University found that a new, portable electronic nose (e-nose) device is capable of distinguishing between bat species by their smells. This study is part of a larger effort to help bats…  More 

Water Supply from Southern State and Private Forest Lands

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Forests provide the most stable and highest quality water supplies among all land uses. A report by the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service quantifies the role of state and private forest lands (SPF) in providing drinking water supply across the southern United States. About half of the South’s land area is forested,…  More 

Carbon Storage in Longleaf Pine Roots

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
“Longleaf roots are pretty legendary,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Peter Anderson. “It’s common to hear that you can dig up a really old stump and use it as a quick, reliable kindling.” Pines contain oleoresins, a sticky liquid mix of oil and resin (or rosin). “There are companies today that buy and dig old…  More 

Louisiana’s First Lady of Forestry

by Patty Matteson, SRS Public Affairs; Adapted from materials by Jim Barnett and Sarah Troncale  • 
Caroline C. “Carrie” Dormon was shaped by her family’s influence and interest in nature. Today she is recognized as a woman who excelled in a male dominated world – as well as a pioneer conservationist, forester, botanist, illustrator, and native plant enthusiast. USDA Forest Service emeritus scientist James Barnett, along with Sarah Troncale, science teacher…  More 

Invasive Plants Follow Land Abandonment after Hurricane Katrina

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
The lot is overgrown, crowded with unruly shrubs, vines, and waist-high weeds. It is littered with old tires and garbage and is now home to a rusted Toyota Tercel. The air is heavy and buzzing with mosquitoes. This is the Lower 9th Ward, where U.S. Forest Service research forester Wayne Zipperer studied the vegetation on…  More 

Reforesting a Stumpscape

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
By 1930, the golden age of lumbering was over. “In about 25 years, millions of acres of old-growth forests had been harvested,” says U.S. Forest Service emeritus scientist James Barnett. “Land once covered with majestic stands of longleaf pines had become vast ‘stumpscapes.’” Cutover forests were bare, with little prospect of regeneration. Forests had been…  More 

State Line Meeting with Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi

by Stephanie Laseter, R8-SRS Liaison  • 
On August 17 and 18, state foresters from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, along with their staffs and personnel from the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), gathered in Biloxi, MS. This was the third State Line Meeting for state foresters Wade Dubea of Louisiana and Charlie Morgan of Mississippi, and the first for Alabama State…  More 

Historic Camp Claiborne

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Remembering the Sacrifice, a hardback book published by the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), richly illustrates the legacy of Camp Claiborne, a military site established on the Kisatchie National Forest (Kisatchie) during World War II. SRS emeritus scientist Jim Barnett wrote the book with co-authors Kisatchie deputy district ranger Douglas Rhodes and district…  More 

2016 Southern Pine Silviculture Training Held in Arkansas and Louisiana

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
For 10 straights days from 25 April through May 3, U.S. Forest Service personnel from the Southern Research Station, Region 8, and State and Private Forestry (S&PF) taught a short course on southern pine silviculture as part of the National Advanced Silviculture Program (NASP). The silviculture certification program for the Forest Service, NASP consists of…  More