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Forest Health Highlights - 2000

Louisiana

The Louisiana Office of Forestry provides forest health protection assistance to state and private land managers throughout the State.  The State and the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection unit fund this program cooperatively.

• Almost 50% of the entire state of Louisiana is forested (13.8 million acres).
• Over 90% of forested acreage in Louisiana is privately owned.
• The Kisatchie National Forest (603,700 acres) provides recreational and wildlife benefits as well as forest products and jobs for thousands of people.
• The southern pine beetle is Louisiana’s most important forest insect pest. In 1995, a significant outbreak affected a large proportion of the State.  Beetle populations have declined since that time. In 2000, there were no confirmed SPB infestations statewide, although there were thousands of small infestations of Ips pine engraver beetles and a few large ones.
• In 2000, the forest tent caterpillar defoliated over 46,000 acres of, primarily, tupelo gum in forested wetlands, in Ascension, St. James and St. John Parishes.
• The baldcypress leafroller defoliated baldcypress over an area of 170,000 acres in southeastern and south central LA in 2000.  Defoliation was substantial (>50%) on 40,000 acres.  Although the predominant impact is loss of growth, repeated annual defoliation has resulted in significant crown dieback and mortality of sapling/pole-sized cypress.
• Defoliation of loblolly pines by the loblolly pine sawfly occurred on approximately 4,000 acres in the spring of 2000.  Winn, Caldwell, LaSalle and Jackson Parishes had significant defoliation in older plantations.  One private industry sprayed 300 acres from the air with insecticides to protect loblolly pine plantations.
• The buck moth population was found to be increasing in numbers in and around federal historical districts in New Orleans. Pheromone trapping was instituted to identify “hot spots” for further evaluation.
• In 2001, the Louisiana Office of Forestry in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service Research, and Forest Health Protection will participate in the Forest Health Monitoring program.  This program is designed to annually collect, analyze, interpret, and report on the conditions of the forests in the state.

The Louisiana Office of Forestry and USDA Forest Service

In spite of the relatively good health of Louisiana’s forests, a variety of insects and diseases (both native and introduced), and human-caused impacts such as air pollution, continue to threaten the State’s resources.  To deal with this constantly changing mix of challenges, the Louisiana Office of Forestry and the Forest Health Protection unit of the USDA Forest Service cooperate to prevent, detect, suppress and manage this multitude of threats.  The partnership between the two agencies has worked for three decades to maintain and improve the health of Louisiana’s forests. 

For additional information, contact:

Louisiana Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry
Office of Forestry
P.O. Box 1628
Baton Rouge, LA  70821

(225) 925-4500
email: rgoyer@unix1.sncc.1su.edu
http://www.ldaf.state.la.us/forestry/index.htm

(or)

USDA Forest Service
Forest Health Protection
2500 Shreveport Highway
Pineville, LA 71360

(318) 473-7286
email: Alexandria Field Office
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth