Paula Vizinat stands next to the Louisiana Champion Hercules Club tree, also known as the toothache tree for its numbing properties if bark or leaf is chewed, with her English Setters Patch, from left, and Luz. The tree is on property that has been in Vizinat's family for decades. (Submitted photo) Sometimes landowners find a nugget of interest in their forest that they never knew was there. For Paula Vizinat, it was the toothache tree. The Hercules Club, Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, is a new...

Ernie Savoie, director of the Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building paddles a cutout cypress pirogue he helped restore. The center is in a fundraising effort to build a new facility in Thibodaux after its building in Lockport was destroyed by Hurricane Ida. (Photo by Jeff Zeringue) Louisiana is home to lots of craftsmen whose goal most often is to create something attractive. The art of boat building is one craft that isn’t just for its beauty but for its function as well. For years...

Pat Deshotels changes the blade on the saw at Bonne Terre Sawmill. A one-man operation, Deshotels runs and maintains the equipment at the...