The People Supporting Our Parks and Refuges 
            --- Piney Woods Journal Submission 2016

So much of nature and wildlife preservation begins with deeply committed, dedicated folks who help establish these wonderful resources for us all. Ken Burns' six-part production for PBS on the history of our US national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges described many Americans who worked hard and convinced others to set aside and protect our public lands. Visionaries like John Muir, business leaders like Stephen Mather, government leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, and many others played key roles in establishing the network of natural resources that we can all visit and enjoy.

One of the more beautiful jewels in the necklace of public lands in Louisiana is Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is just a few miles north of the city of Monroe and right off US Hwy 165. It would probably take several typical PWJ articles to describe most of the educational, recreational, and environmental attributes of this refuge. Although I'm sorely tempted to do this, I'll direct attention instead toward some of the many people and the public-spirited efforts that helped establish this particular refuge starting just two decade or so ago. One of these public leaders, Ann Blosom Smith, took considerable time to describe for me how BBLNWR has evolved.

The "Blue Goose" (symbol of our national wildlife refuges) at the entry to BBLNWR


A plaque at entrance of BBLNWR commemorates the founding role played by George Mouk of Monroe. He communicated, lobbied, and negotiated for almost a decade trying to open Black Bayou Lake to the public. It had been privately owned as a members-only hunting and fishing club. Mouk tried mightily, but unsuccessfully, with local civic groups and state politicians to make the area a state park. When the city of Monroe bought the area as a back-up water resource, Mouk recognized the opportunity for the federal government to become involved. His involvement continued, even after the national wildlife refuge was established in 1997, as a member of the Friends of Black Bayou until his death in 2010.

The refuge, with a 1700-acre lake owned by the city of Monroe, is managed by US Fish and Wildlife Service under a 99-year lease. The founding refuge manager was Kelby Ouchley, who envisioned the eventual visitor center, pier, trails, environmental educational program, and other attractions. Ouchley also inaugurated the Friends of Black Bayou (FoBB) as a means to support the many plans for the refuge. Ouchley’s radio program “Bayou Diversity” aired on KEDM public radio, and he called for a meeting of interested community members at the Monroe News Star office. About 50 folks attended that initial meeting and a later meeting at the old 1880s planter’s home, on the adjacent Richland Plantation, that had been offered to Ouchley as a potential visitors center for the refuge. Although the plantation owners and partners who farm the land offered the house to the refuge, it needed to be moved. For this to be accomplished, the support group formed and registered as a 501(c)(3) organization and the recipient of the old house. The support group next tackled the project of renovating the old house, which was in bad shape, through lots of fundraising and four years of manual labor.

The Friends of Black Bayou started with ULM economics professor, Dr. Robert (Bob) Eisenstadt as its first president. He continued as president for about six years. It incorporated and eventually received non-profit designation so it could accept donations. One of its first big project was the building of the original 400-foot pier over the lake, using funds from FWS and International Paper. For its initial four years, Eisenstadt and Mouk concentrated on fund raising, while Ann Blosom Smith, as vice-president, focused on publicity work. They and others also did physical labor on renovating the old planter’s home as the refuge’s visitors center -- all under the direction of Dave Tyler, a retired Air Force officer who acted as the volunteer contractor. Tyler worked full-time for no pay, patiently instructing all who were willing, if many were quite inexperienced. Others at FoBBs took on diverse assignments, such as an early and big fundraising project of a "Friends Quilt" that was made of $50 squares bought by community members.

As Eisenstadt’s tenure as president of FoBB was ending, the group realized that the beautiful visitor center was not sufficient as an educational center due to the growing interest of many school groups and visitors. As Smith took over as FoBB president, fundraising for a Conservation Learning Center began. It was divided into two sides -- a "wetlab" classroom and a display area for live animal exhibits. With financial help from the FWS, the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau, International Paper Foundation, Scott Foundation, and many other organizations and private citizens, a local builder began constructing the building. It was designed pro bono by a local architectural firm, Architecture +. In October 2005, the ribbon was cut for the Conservation Learning Center, turning over the key to the FWS.

Along the way, FoBB was named the nationwide Friends Group of the Year (2004) and the Louisiana Wildlife Federation's Governor's Conservation Award winner (2003). Several members of the group also received awards as volunteers and educators. Following Smith as FoBB president, Wallace Hardy served for five years, succeeded by Allen Dunn. Eisenstadt took the job again to finish the third year of Allen's term and continues as president until the end of 2016. Ouchley was the refuge manager until his retirement about five years ago when Brett Hortman took the position. Maury Bedford, the project leader over the five refuges in north Louisiana,Red River, D'Arbonne, Upper Ouachita, Handy Brake, and Black Bayou Lake, is temporarily serving now as the BBL refuge manager. Gay Brantley was the original educational specialist until she retired a couple of years ago and was followed by Nova Clarke. There were many others in FoBB who contributed to the development of the refuge, such as the late Jim Moore, the late Nell Odom, Dr Fred Groves and Amy Ouchley of ULM, Miriam Norris Schrock, Carol Mouk, Leslie Calhoun, and Gloria Dedmon.

Other volunteers at BBLNWR, elsewhere in Louisiana, and across the country also deserve praise and deep appreciation for helping make our beautiful national and state parks, forests, and refuges what they are today.

                             One of the signs along the Wilderness Challenge Trail (for children)

Tenacious Terriers  --- Piney Woods Journal Submission 2016

Dogs can be great companions on many outdoor and wilderness excursions. I grew up reading wonderful articles written by Ted Trueblood and published in Field and Stream Magazine in which he described the almost human personalities and eccentricities of some of his favorite hunting dogs. At various stages of my life, I have had close bonds with five or six dogs that accompanied me on many jogs, hikes, and rambles through the woods.

Having a dog or two is great encouragement for getting a bit more exercise, even if it's only a daily walk around the block. The dogs obviously like this or longer trips when they can use their olfactory senses and repeatedly "mark" their presence. Confinement in apartments and houses for long stretches of time certainly runs against the natural tendencies of many dog breeds, particularly certain types of small terriers.

Our latest family addition has been variously called Beebee, Trouble, or Scruff Bucket -- depending largely upon her recent conduct and our reactions to it. Back in March we rescued this terrier mix from loitering and scrounging in the parking lot of a local convenience store. She was undernourished and had an injured paw. Our vet said that she weighed only seven pounds and was between six and eight months old.

 

Jack Russell Terriers have received more recent attention and notoriety for their stubbornness, but many other small terrier breeds (Feists, Fox Terriers, and Rat Terriers) share similar characteristics. They are definitely feisty, lightning-quick, mischievous, entertaining, and eager to hunt for bugs, snakes, squirrels, mice, and most other small critters. Beebee has the head and body of a Rat or Fox Terrier and only the scruffy fur of a Cairn Terrier. Unlike some small terriers with short, stubby legs, she is has long, skinny legs.

Rat terriers are a storied dog breed that dates back centuries to rural and urban Europe. These dogs were bred specifically for family and public service in catching and killing rats, mice, and other above- and below-ground vermin. As more people left rural and farming lives and crowded into cities, lack of public sanitation and garbage accumulation resulted in dangerous levels of rat and mice infestations, as well as related diseases and plagues. A "ratter" was a city resident who bred these small, quick, long-nosed terriers and was paid according to the dogs' success in killing rats and other vermin.

President Teddy Roosevelt apparently had a particular fondness for these small terrier breeds. Wikipedia describes at least two terriers that the President and his family had. Jack was a Manchester Terrier and “absolutely a member of the family.” Scamp was described in another Roosevelt letter as a Fox Terrier who “is really an extraordinary ratter and kills a great many rats in the White House, in the cellars, and on the lower floor and among the machinery. He is really a very nice little dog.”

Almost all of our American Presidents received attention because they proudly owned a particular dog breed. President Obama spent considerable time selecting Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, in part due to the breed’s hypoallergenic trait and one of his daughter’s allergies. George W. Bush’s dog, Barney, was a Scottish Terrier. Bill Clinton had a Chocolate Lab, and George H. W. Bush owned a Springer Spaniel. President Lyndon Johnson had beagles and created a small controversy by holding one called "Him" by his ears and walking him on his back legs. Richard Nixon described a Cocker Spaniel, "Checkers," that a donor had given his children in one of his memorable speeches.

Small terriers, like Beebee, can demand a lot of attention and watchfulness, or it certainly seems so to us, in comparison to the Labs and lap dogs that we’ve also owned. She is ever ready for adventures outdoor every time I start getting ready to leave home, and will accost dogs many times her size if given any provocation. With the ever-rising costs of vet bills and related food and care expenses, having multiple dogs is a luxury and a responsibility that many can’t reasonably assume. The special bond or relationship that forms between humans and their dogs, though, can seem priceless.

Our State Roads and Highways  --- Piney Woods Journal  2016

Our environment includes the social infrastructure through which we navigate our busy lives. There are serious threats facing this critical infrastructure as well as those threats confronting our natural environment.

Our transportation infrastructure is a vital inheritance and obligation that we can overlook in our headlong pursuit of life goals. We have greatly benefitted from some of the finest air, rail, and road systems that the world has ever known. Interstate and local transportation options, most created decades or longer ago, allow us personal freedoms and flexibilities that most second- and all third-world nations do not have.

This transportation infrastructure is affected, over time, by our political and social choices. Recent choices don't represent anything like the huge improvements that we saw about a half-century ago with air and ground transportation investments. Our interstate highway system is certainly one example. I can remember as a boy watching over many months the progress in construction of sections of I-20 between West Monroe and Ruston. I remember, too, how much easier it was afterward to travel through our larger cities. It seemed to take forever before to travel by auto through all of the east-west stop lights of cities such Birmingham on summer vacations.

One state newspaper recently carried a letter to the editor from a reader complaining about the condition of Louisiana highways, in contrast to those that he had driven in other states. Certainly, oil industry slowdown, state budgetary constraints, and extensive flooding damage in north and south Louisiana have negatively affected the quality of our state roads and seriously delayed some bridge maintenance and repair projects. Prospects in the short-term future do not offer promise for much positive change of these overall road conditions. Some have proposed higher gasoline taxes and more toll roads to try to generate needed funds, but these options are hardly popular ones.

Given existing road conditions with more potholes, cracks and erosion, Louisiana drivers can expect increased tire wear and replacement expense, as well as need for more frequent front-end auto alignment. How we drive our state roads makes some difference in tire and alignment expense. There seem to be two types of drivers -- those who seem generally unaware of potholes and road obstructions and hit these often and those who try to navigate carefully around most of these hinderances.

I wonder if there aren't a few lessons in life regarding what we notice and then focus our attention and what we ignore and just accept. Sometimes ignoring and just accepting obstacles might be OK; other times we pay a big price for these attitudes and behaviors. Some of us focus more attention on changing environmental realities and think more about their life-impacting consequences. Actually doing something meaningfully about our changing environmental realities is a huge challenge. We seem to have gridlock often between activists and those apparently attuned to other values and considerations. Finding common-sense compromises and even a few creative solutions shouldn't be too much to expect. The low public rating of national and state legislators suggests that they are not meeting public expectations though.

One hundred years ago in our state, perhaps the most common political slogan was we need "more good schools and good roads." Huey Long and other populist-minded leaders fully recognized the ballot-box appeal of responding to these voter sentiments. Louisiana transformed itself from 1915 forward through more and better paved roads and with road graters to make its many dirt and gravel roads passable after heavy rains. These improved roads particularly helped state farmers get their crops to market quicker and more reliably.

Good schools and good roads are a vital part of our social infrastructure. The state of our schools (K-college) and our roads seems among the best measures of our overall social health and well being. Let's hope we have more bipartisan support for strong investments in both.

Becoming a Hobbyist Beekeeper  ---  Piney Wood Journal Submission 2016

The worldwide decline in numbers and health of pollinating bees has certainly received a lot of public coverage in recent years, along with multiple reasons that have been suggested for causing this decline. There has also been unprecedented interest or curiosity among many about honey bees and beekeeping.

Some of this interest has come from individuals, couples and families who view beekeeping as a possible pastime and a means to do a little to help preserve the key crop pollination and environmental niche that bees fill. Many baby boomers who are in or near retirement years can remember the rural roots of their grandparents or great-grandparents who likely kept a bee hive or two on their ranches or farms. They have homes now in rural or suburban areas and also more spare time for hobbies than during their work careers.

Among these baby boomers, and also many people much younger, are those who yearn for a simpler and closer-to-nature existence. Some are very concerned about the state of our natural environment and issues such as healthier food consumption. Some are gardeners themselves or have orchards on their property for which pollinating insects can benefit the quality and quantity of crop yield.

There are currently 15 local beekeeping clubs active within the state of Louisiana and associated with the Louisiana Beekeepers Association. Anyone interested in learning more about honey bees and beekeeping can obviously go to a bookstore or library to find and read basic books on these subjects. As valuable as this information can be, it really can't compare with the more personal information and advice that veteran, local beekeepers can offer. Few "how to" books consider the specific area conditions and challenges that beekeeping in parts of the Deep South present. An example is one particular pest, the small hive beetle, which if unchecked can result in major hive problems in this region of the country..
Critical to beekeeping is hive location and recognizing the more important trees and plants upon which bees can potentially forage for pollen and nectar. There's quite a difference in some of these foraging sources even within a state such as Louisiana. Chinese tallow can be a very important foraging source for honey production in parts of south Louisiana while much less so in north Louisiana. Row crops such as cotton and soybeans can really help nearby hives produce surplus honey, but beekeepers must be aware of potential crop dusting and pesticide spraying that can be fatal to hives. Mosquito abatement efforts occur in many Louisiana parishes, and contact with those local officials can help prevent mosquito spraying near bee hives. Much of Louisiana has abundant wild growth of goldenrod in the fall that can be a great foraging source that allows hives to produce and store honey to keep the hives going through the winter months. Many beekeepers like to harvest their honey though before the start of this goldenrod bloom, usually in September, because the taste of goldenrod honey is often considered funky, earthy, and less than desirable.

Veteran beekeepers can help novice beginners get started and have a much higher chance of hive survival and productivity. They can give advice on how to purchase bees and the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing options, such as "packages," "nucs," or whole hives. Often beginners get interested in beekeeping and want to start in the spring, but they can find that some hive and queen suppliers are overbooked then. Checking several months in advance with these suppliers is recommended.

Some beekeepers start with little cost by catching swarming bees. How to catch swarms or to remove an existing hive of bees from a tree (a "trap out") can be easy or difficult depending on the actual situation and your knowledge of methods. Basic clothing, equipment, and supplies for beekeeping are just some of questions that beginners can have. There's almost always some time at monthly beekeepers’meetings for beginners to ask veterans specific questions that they may currently have.

Beekeeping clubs in the state vary considerably in terms of their history, number of members or individuals attending monthly meetings, and degree of formal programs and presentations at their meetings. The Hill Country Beekeepers, based now in West Monroe, started over 25 years ago with beekeepers meeting in Farmerville. Clubs often start with a some experienced beekeepers who meet and share knowledge and viewpoints, but grow over time as newcomers visit, benefit from the advice of veteran beekeepers, and join the club. Some clubs have fundraising efforts, post informative newsletters, and offer various membership benefits, such as "field days" when members can share knowledge and skills in working on actual hives.

The Louisiana Beekeepers Association holds an annual convention on a Friday and Saturday in early December each year with many beekeeping topics and presentations, as well as invite national and area vendors who sell beekeeping equipment and supplies. The LBA also sponsors an October field day on a Saturday each year at the Baton Rouge Honey Bee Research Lab at which demonstrations and advice are given for more and less experienced beekeepers. The official web site for the Louisiana Beekeepers Association offers contact information for a club fairly near to you, as well as information on the LBA's activities such as the annual field day and convention. A few of these local clubs in the state have their own web sites or Facebook pages. One Facebook site, Beekeeping in Louisiana, offers a means to reach and query many state beekeepers. If you have specific questions about becoming a hobbyist beekeeper, I'll try to respond to these (steve-payne1@live.com) or at least point you in the right direction.

Environmental Education for Louisiana Youth
Piney Woods Submissions -- 2016

The future of Louisiana’s natural environment depends on the awareness, caring, and responsiveness of younger state residents. The environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s saw the creation of the EPA and Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and this concern for resource conservation and sustainability has continued and intensified for many. Youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts, FFA, and 4-H, have long fostered aspects of environmental learning and skill development. Many parents, also, have had a huge role in passing on these values and knowledge to their children.

Public and private schools certainly shape the environmental literacy and commitment of students through their curricula and courses in basic biology and other sciences. The extent to which these academic courses really promote student environmental values and knowledge is a function of individual teaching excellence and a variety of school resources that can help teachers attract student attention and stimulate their imaginations. Learning is often enhanced when students can work together in outdoor settings and can bounce questions and viewpoints off one another and teachers. If we could visit individual primary, middle, and secondary schools in this state, it probably wouldn’t take us that long to determine which schools and classes were really stimulating a lot of student interest, interaction and involvement.

Our public and private sectors have key roles to play in encouraging and supporting environmental education in our schools. The Louisiana Environmental Education Commission (LEEC), under the direction of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has held symposia, provided educational programming for students and teachers, and given awards and grants to public and private schools. LEEC grants are awarded annually to individual and team educators in K-12 grade schools as well as to post-graduate university researchers. Part of the LEEC’s role is also to publicize schools that have had exemplary student programs and achievements. A recent and specific initiative of LEEC along these lines of encouragement and recognition is the Green Schools Program. These programs are designed to reduce negative environmental impacts and costs, improve public health and wellness, and promote effective environmental and sustainability education. Its Green School Grants, up to a maximum of $5000, support projects that further the mission and goals of the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools Program.

Green School grant recipients in 2015 included KIPP Central City Primary (New Orleans), Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School (Alexandria), St. Martin’s Episcopal School (Metairie), and Nesom Middle School (Tickfaw). Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School (Baton Rouge), Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans), and Baton Rouge Magnet High School were selected as Green Ribbon School Honorees in 2016, the first such recognition for Louisiana Schools. Brian Gautreau, appointed last year as Green Schools Coordinator, commented that there had been relatively less headway made so far in discovering exemplary environmental education programs in north Louisiana schools. Exceptions do exist, though, such as at West Ouachita High School. The West Ouachita FFA chapter in West Monroe was awarded a $2,000 grant in 2015 from the national FFA organization for its service-learning sustainable recycling project.

The future of environmental education in Louisiana faces challenges, including current state budgetary concerns and perhaps less funding for these and other worthwhile state programs. One way that outdoor enthusiasts can help at least a little is to purchase the specialty state vehicle license plate for environmental education. Purchase helps to fund grants for educators and students, the annual Environmental Education State Symposium, and other programs designed to further environmental knowledge and stewardship in Louisiana. The Office of Motor Vehicles can be contacted at 1-225-925-6146 to ask for the Environmental Education Plate and obtain a quote, or secured online at https://expresslane.dps.louisiana.gov/SpecialPlatesPublic/SpecialPlates1.aspx.