Columbia Man Arrested Following LDAF Investigation
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry investigated James H. Rowland for withholding proceeds of timber during the months of Dec. 2021 to Jan. 2023.
Investigators of the Forestry Enforcement Division say that Rowland was hired to harvest timber in Caldwell Parish on a 1300-acre tract. According to LDAF, Rowland allegedly withheld proceeds from the timber that was harvested off the tract. He also failed to report and pay for the loads of timber, depriving the owners of their share from the sales. LDAF says the timber was determined to have a delivered value of $283,996.88.
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USDA Forest Service Accepting Grant Applications for Wood Innovations Projects, Community Wood Energy Facilities
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service today announced it will offer $41 million through the 2023 Wood Innovations Grant and 2023 Community Wood Grant programs to spark innovation and create new markets for wood products and renewable wood energy.
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Market Optimism, New Industries Highlight Louisiana Forestry Meeting
After several years of market fluctuations, the Louisiana timber industry is finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That is the optimism shared by forestry professionals during the 2023 Forestry Forum held as a part of AgExpo recently in West Monroe.
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800,000 Longleaf Pines To Be Planted in Kisatchie
Seeds of progress and recovery are being planted at Kisatchie National Forest as part of a plan to grow more than 800,000 new longleaf pine trees in the forest through a $25 million partnership between the National Forest Foundation and Tellurian, a natural gas company housed in Texas.
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LSU AgCenter Announces Two Forestry Hires
The LSU AgCenter recently filled two positions to support Louisiana’s forestry industry.
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Markets Highlighted At Forestry Meeting
After several years of market fluctuations, the Louisiana timber industry is finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That is the optimism shared by forestry professionals during the 2023 Forestry Forum held as a part of AgExpo recently in West Monroe.
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Multi-Million Dollar Investment To Reforest Kisatchie National forest Underway
On Friday, Jan. 20, the first saplings of a new Kisatchie National Forest were nestled in the soil of Vernon Parish, an effort to reforest the area after Category 4 Hurricane Laura wiped out 256,000 acres of trees in 2020. Of that acreage, 90,000 were severely impacted, more than 20,000 catastrophically.
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Vernon Parish Man Arrested On Timber Related Charges
Forty-eight-year-old James Travis Johnson of Travis Johnson Logging was arrested by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Forestry Enforcement Agents for failing to pay for $24,000 of timber in Vernon Parish. Johnson was charged one count of Harvest of Forest Products/Failure to Remit Payment.
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Roy O. Martin Invests $9.5M To Modernize Facility In Natchitoches Parish
Martco, LLC, the parent company of the third-generation, family-owned timber sourcing and manufacturing company RoyOMartin, announced it will invest $9.5 million to install technologically advanced production equipment at its Natchitoches Parish lumber mill.
The RoyOMartin plywood manufacturing facility in Chopin is one of the parish’s largest employers, and the expansion will allow the company to retain approximately 684 existing jobs through 2035.
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Damaging Pest On The Rise In Louisiana Pines
Stress for trees can be a lot like stress in humans — too much is never a good thing.
Pines, the main tree species in Louisiana forests, are susceptible to several biotic and abiotic stresses, said Raj Singh, LSU AgCenter plant doctor.
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Northeast Forestry Forum Set Jan. 13
Registration for the 2023 Forestry Forum in Northeast Louisiana has begun.
On-site registration begins at 8 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, at the West Monroe Convention Center in the Trenton Room. The program begins at 8:30 a.m. Early registration fee is $15, which ends Friday, Jan. 6. Registration at the door is $20. Checks can be made payable to LSU AgCenter and include Forestry Forum in the memo portion of the check. You can download the registration form, fill it out and mail it with your check to LSU AgCenter, PO Box 160, Harrisonburg, LA 71340.
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BMP Manual Revision Completed; Out in 2023
More than a century ago, forestry was a lot different. Many of the old-growth forests were overharvested, leaving open fields with few trees remaining. Then, in 1947, the Louisiana Forestry Association began its efforts to promote reforestation where forests had been clearcut and sustainability once those trees had grown large enough to harvest.
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Louisiana Loggers Hoping To Rebound From Recent Losses
Logging is the second largest division in Louisiana’s manufacturing industry, however natural disasters and the pandemic have brought logging in Louisiana to an all-time low.
Logging is Louisiana’s main source of timber, and the industry provides employment to just over 25,000 Louisiana residents, making it one of the largest in the state. However, in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura and the pandemic, rising fuel costs, a diminishing demand and reduced production have all made the industry take a massive hit.
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Fishing Spiders are Our Friends
Fishing spiders, Dolomedes tenebrosus, are venomous, carnivorous and enormous. However, these spiders are not our enemy, and they do not eat our plants. They eat the bugs that do, as well as insects that sting and spread dreaded diseases, like mosquito larvae.
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State Treasurer Urges Loggers To Apply For Grant
Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder made a stop in Central Louisiana on Thursday, Oct. 27, to promote the Louisiana Loggers Relief Grant Program.
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