The USDA Farm Service agency (FSA) announced the deadline to accept applications for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) to parishes affected by Hurricane Laura has been extended. The new deadline is Feb. 8, 2021. “Dealing with natural disasters is never easy, but it’s important for producers to call our office as soon as possible to make us aware of their damages and to receive information concerning assistance,” Craig McC

Described as looking like a modern-day West Texas sheriff: tall and slim, cordial, and affable with a quick mind —and a black string tie to top it off, his parents had named him James E. Mixon. That name did not really fit, and he was known by all as Jim Mixon. Jim’s father was a Navy man and Jim moved to 13 different schools getting an education. He was born in New Orleans and returned to Louisiana to obtain a forestry degree from Louisiana State University in 1936. Mixon wo

In forestry, some disruptions, like new mill or seedling technologies, offer strategic choices, while others, like the COVID-19 coronavirus, get thrust upon us. What do we observe with how forest industry manufacturers and wood bioenergy firms have responded to the coronavirus in North America and around Louisiana? And what are the implications for forest owners and timberland investors? Contemplating the Coronavirus Our first quarter 2020 Strategy Note shares lessons and rec

Land ownership and private property rights are fundamental American values, God-given rights so important that our Founding Fathers specifically listed their protection in the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. For many people, owning a piece of land, especially a tract of forestland, is the ultimate fulfillment of their American dream. There are many reasons why one may choose to own forestland and every landowner’s reasons are different and unique to them. In addition

My agriculture career began in the private sector with a successful cow-calf operation in my home state of Texas. In the private sector, one quickly learns the need to work together. Improving the partnership between NRCS and private landowners is one of my continuing goals as the new state conservationist in Louisiana. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet several people in the forestry industry in Louisiana, but let me introduce myself. I grew up in the south Texas town of Vic

Nearly nine months after being arrested for timber theft, a Rapides Parish man is accused of committing the same crime for a second time this year. Melvin Darren Edwards was arrested November 30, 2020 by Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) enforcement agents for theft of timber valued at $7,482.30. In 2019, forestry enforcement agents received a complaint from the owner of a 35.6 acre tract of timberland located in Rapides Parish. The landowner reported th