Tulane University researchers and the recycling facility Glass Half Full are using evolutionary relationships between bacteria, fungi and plants to grow cypress and other plant species in glass sand created from recycled bottles. 

Scientists hope to build back areas of Louisiana’s coast that have been eroded with the glass sand they have developed.

The Hardwood Saw Mill has reopened with new owners.

Businessmen Magruder and Alex Kirkland from Jackson, Louisiana have purchased the mill after the previous owners, Hunt Forest Products, closed it a couple weeks ago.

Ask people to name trees native to Louisiana. Most people will think of live oaks, magnolias, and cypress trees. However, pine trees rank among the most abundant and important trees across the state. Louisiana has a thriving forestry industry, with pine trees accounting for most of the timber harvested each year. In fact, forestry consistently ranks as Louisiana’s top agricultural commodity, contributing more than $3 billion annually to the state’s economy.

Louisiana has doubled the state money available for nonprofit groups to preserve and restore public lands of historic, environmental or recreational importance.

Louisiana Outdoors Forever was allotted $2 million by the state legislature for the 2027 grant application cycle, which starts this week. That’s up from $1.07 million in 2026 and the largest amount set aside for the program since it began in 2022.

C&C Forest Products will invest over $21 million to rebuild its Coushatta sawmill following a 2025 fire, the company said Thursday in a news release.

The company is expected to create 77 direct new jobs with an average annual salary of $65,260, which is 34% above the average Red River Parish wage, while retaining 27 current positions.