West Central Louisiana Ecosystem Partnership (WLEP) Update

Dan Weber, The Nature Conservancy

Prescribed Grazing – A Management Tool for Wetlands by Botanical Research Institute of Texas Resident Research Associate Dan Caudle and David Daigle, Louisiana cattleman, conservationist, land steward, and consultant is a newly available guide for landowners interested in incorporating grazing as a tool to manage longleaf.  Daigle is a longleaf landowner in the area of the Kisatchie/Fort Polk SGA and is active in the Longleaf Implementation Team known locally as the West Central Louisiana Ecosystem Partnership (WLEP).  The book establishes that grazing has always been a factor in the longleaf ecosystem in the western portion of the range from the time of the buffalo and after when they were driven off and replaced by cattle as European settlers arrived.  Guidance on determining stocking rates and carrying capacity is provided as are descriptions of the most historically significant vegetation types of the coastal plain.  Grasses of the Longleaf Pine Bluestem range of the southeastern Unites States include bluestems, panicums, paspalums, and other miscellaneous grasses that are well suited to provide high quality and sustainable forage to livestock that graze these rangelands.  The book is 31 pages, contains numerous high quality pictures, and a collection of 68 references relevant to current and historic longleaf management across the range.  They can be obtained by contacting Caudle by email at lonestar5@charter.net.  The book costs $3.00 per copy with discounts for orders of 10 or more and there are no shipping charges or other fees.

Image 1: Heifers grazing a longleaf savanna in SW Louisiana.  Photo by NCBA / Baxter Communications.

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