A History of Lee Memorial Forest

Lee Memorial Forest is the Louisiana State University, School of Renewable Natural Resources’ research forest. The 1,210 acre forest in Washington Parish has served as a practical teaching laboratory for forestry students for over 65 years. Over this period, the forest has changed from typical cutover forestlands of the 1920’s to today’s model managed forest for teaching, research, and demonstration. Lee Memorial Forest is named after Professor J.G. Lee, Sr., who taught the first forestry courses offered at LSU and became the first head of the Department of Forestry in 1924. It is located along highway LA-10 midway between Franklinton and Bogalusa, about a two hour drive from main campus.

The first LSU forestry summer camp was held in 1925 on lands of the Great Southern Lumber Co. Students slept in tents pitched along Bogue Lusa Creek. But even before then, in 1920, the university sponsored a six week summer camp for employees of the Louisiana Department of Forestry. Professor Lee was an instructor for this first and subsequent forestry summer camps.

In 1926, Great Southern Lumber Co. donated 1,012 acres of cutover lands to Louisiana State University for use in connection with the School of Forestry. This donated cutover land included the area where the first forestry camp was held. That legal transaction, performed more than 70 years ago, led to the creation of a forestry field laboratory for students enrolled in the forestry curriculum at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The school forest consisted of cutover land at the time of its donation to the School of Forestry. Historical inferences indicate that pine removals at the time were predominately virgin longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). Although artificial regeneration was being developed in Louisiana at that time and Great Southern Lumber Company was instrumental in developing the technology, no records exist to indicate the extent, if any, of artificial regeneration on the school forest. Thus, existing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) not harvested during the early clearcutting efforts was probably the major contributor to the second growth forest which developed.

The first camp buildings, still in use today, were constructed in 1927 and included a large building with an office, classroom, kitchen, and dormitory to house 30 students; a small house for faculty use; and a small home for the caretaker. The three original buildings have been improved over the years. A second student/faculty camp house (now a residence) was constructed in 1948, and a cook’s quarter was added to the main building in 1954. The most recent additions to the headquarters’ area include an office/female dormitory building and an adjacent laundry building.

Lee Memorial Forest was used continuously for summer field studies in forestry, or “forestry summer camp”, between the student’s junior and senior years from 1925-1966. The program consisted of dendrology, timber measurements, silviculture, forest engineering, aerial photography, and timber harvesting. From 1967-1981, summer instruction was held on the main campus because the facilities at the forest were inadequate for the increased number of students which then included a number of young women. After construction of the female dormitory/office building in 1982, summer camp returned to Lee Forest. Course changes also occurred at this time. Aerial photography was replaced with wood utilization and forest prescriptions.

Over the years, the instructional period has varied from 6 to 8 weeks.  In the summer of 1949, two 8-week sessions of summer camp were held for the class of 1950, the largest forestry class in LSU history with 78 B.S.F. graduates.  In 1992, “summer camp” was moved from the summer term to the last half of the spring semester of the junior year.  During the first half of the semester, students completed two forestry courses on campus in a concentrated period of instruction.  They then move to Lee Forest for 8 weeks of “spring camp” during the last half of the semester.  The forestry students will thus be free for full-time employment for the entire summer, which could include internships with forestry industry or the U. S. Forest Service.

Lee Memorial Forest has been visited by many people, including forestry students from other universities as well as high school and elementary school children. Organized groups such as the local landowners association, 4-H, FFA, and Boy Scouts of America are frequent visitors. The forest contains approximately 600 acres of managed southern yellow pine stands, 220 acres of hardwood bottom lands including major SMZ’s, 110 acres currently set aside as demonstration areas, and approximately 108 acres in research. Over 600 vascular plants grow on the forest, including uncommon plants like Sonderegger pine, swamp fetterbush, and silky camellia. The forest is home for many species of mammals, birds, and reptiles, including the endangered gopher tortoise. Deer, turkey, quail, squirrels, and rabbits are abundant. Lee Forest is, indeed, a laboratory for the study of nature, botany, ecology, forestry, and wildlife.

Research in forestry is conducted on the forest and contributes to its value as a teaching laboratory. The first research started in 1937 when black locust seedlings were planted and fertilized to improve their growth for early production of fence posts. But most of the research on Lee Forest has been done since 1958 when an 8 acre loblolly pine plantation was established as a fertilization study. Other past research included the assessment of epicormic branching in sweetgum; the comparison of loblolly pine natural regeneration versus artificial regeneration; the effects of timber harvesting, regeneration methods, and prescribed burning on forest soils and wildlife; the effects of under planting hardwood seedlings in stands thinned to various densities; the intensive management of green ash; the study of plant succession on a severely burned site; the effects of chemical and mechanical control of natural pine regeneration in pine plantations.

Lee Memorial Forest contains several research and demonstration areas. Current research and demonstration underway at the forest include the following: a cherrybark oak plantation; a 70 acre natural area; a three acre arboretum;  a longleaf spacing study replicating various numbers of trees per acre; a longleaf ecosystem restoration project encompassing natural and artificial regeneration; a longleaf pine genetic study developed to understand the regulation of longleaf in the grass stage and to breed longleaf pines that lack the grass stage; a long term productivity study focusing on harvesting methods, soil compaction, under story vegetation, and site prep methods. Lee Forest currently has 75 acres of longleaf pine plantations under intense forest management.

Lee Memorial Forest is proud of its annual Christmas tree production. Production of Louisiana grown Christmas trees started with research done on Lee Memorial Forest since 1960. Many species of trees were tested over the years, but only Arizona cypress, Virginia pine, and Leyland cypress have been successfully grown and marketed for Christmas trees. On-going studies with Leyland cypress include the application of different rates of fertilizer as well as the planting of various varieties of the tree.

The social aspects of managing land were manifested early in the establishment of Lee Forest. For example, in the 1930’s and 1940’s much cutover land in the south was subjected to annual burning by local residents. Reasons included range burning for free roaming cattle, spite, and “just to smell the woods burn”. Washington Parish and lands surrounding Lee Forest were not any different, but Houston Pierce, the first resident manager of the forest, let neighbors know that he did not want “his” woods burned. Pierce’s personal reputation was strong enough that neighbors honored his wishes.  The staff at Lee Forest continues the tradition of burning the forest, but under strict and controlled guidelines. Approximately 300 acres of southern pine plantations are burned annually.

In promoting a good neighbor policy, Mr. Pierce honored the request of a local Baptist church to use a swimming hole in Bogue Lusa Creek for baptismal purposes. Pierce secured permission first from Dr. Paul Burns, then the director of the School of Forestry. Later, the good neighbor policy was exercised by donation of a small plot of land to the local church to be used as a cemetery. Hunting was permitted on the forest until the 1980’s when a researcher’s life was endangered by gunfire. At that time the forest was closed to all forms of  public hunting.

An early timber sale was prompted by timber theft. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) was abundant and valued as a specialty wood for making shuttlecocks for weaving looms. Because of the amount of theft occurring, Burns authorized Pierce to conduct a sale of the remaining dogwood to stop the theft. A later sale of timber resources included remnant longleaf pine stumps valued for production of turpentine and rosin.

The past management plan was developed primarily as a teaching tool for forestry students, with revenue production as a secondary objective. The plan, developed by forest manager Don Reed in 1982, was to create a regulated even-aged pine forest on approximately 550 acres, an uneven-aged pine forest on approximately 70 acres, and approximately 130 acres of managed hardwood bottomlands. The remaining acreage was devoted to research and demonstration areas, roads, and the general headquarters’ area. The goal was to produce large high quality saw timber on a 60 year rotation with scheduled intermediate treatments such as thinning and prescribed burning.

The management plan is currently being updated and revised to re-consider the 60 year rotation age, include changes in stand types and research needs, and incorporate modern forest management practices such as aerial chemical applications, GPS mapping, reforesting with genetically improved seedlings, and adhering to Louisiana’s  BMP’s.

As previously mentioned, forest acreage was reduced by a few acres in the early years to provide land and access for a cemetery of a local church. However; a major expansion of Lee Memorial Forest occurred in 1991 when William A. Knight willed his estate, including 210 acres, to the School of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries. The land holding is within a five minute drive of Lee Forest. The Knight estate included a residence, a garage, and a barn. Most of that area, which was improved pasture, has been artificially regenerated with southern yellow pine. The Knight Estate currently contains about 110 acres in pine plantations, 40 acres of hardwood bottomlands, and 60 acres in research and demonstration.

Many changes have occurred in the forestry instructional program which began on the banks of Bogue Lusa Creek in the early 1920’s. Lodging, cooking, and dining facilities are now available making it an excellent base of operations for individuals and groups who want to study on the forest or visit nearby forest industries and land management activities. The J.G. Lee Memorial Forest, now part of the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, serves as a vital link in teaching, research, and extension service to the forestry profession and to society in general.

Despite the many changes that have occurred on Lee Memorial Forest over the years, none have changed the forest to the extent of the event that changed it in August of 2005.

Hurricane Katrina tore through Washington Parish on Monday, August 29, 2005 with devastating force. Lee Memorial Forest took a direct hit. In just a few hours, the powerful rain and wind uprooted, broke, and topped countless trees. Timber damage was most severe in three specific timber types on the forest -  mature timber stands, pine plantations which were thinned within the past 3 years, and streamside management zones.

Immediately, efforts were underway to determine an estimate of damaged timber and began the process of a salvage timber sale. Due to the degree of damage spread throughout the forest, as well as hazardous conditions, the damage assessment was painstakingly slow. Approximately 215 acres of mature timber were damaged, as well as 120 acres of pine plantations and 180 acres of hardwood bottoms.

After hours of preparation for an emergency salvage timber sale and numerous hurdles, logging finally began on Lee Forest on November 1, 2005. The intention of the logging operation was to harvest only storm damaged trees. Logging operations lasted over two months, with the last load hauled off on January 2, 2006. Totals of timber volume (Doyle Rule) salvaged from the forest are: pine sawtimber, 685 mbf; pine chip-n-saw, 360 cords; pine pulpwood, 803 cords; hardwood sawtimber, 72 mbf; and hardwood pulpwood, 175 cords.

As compared to the timber damage, the facilities at Lee Forest suffered only minor damaged. Shingles and tin were ripped from roofs, a tree top went through the roof of a small pumpshed, two other sheds were completely crushed by toppled trees, a propane gas line was unearthed by a tree stump and its roots, and other small types of damage occurred such as broken windows and hundreds of feet of damaged fencing. With the quick response of the AG Center and Facilities Planning, repairs were completed in a timely manner

The process of debris removal on Lee Forest proved to be a major feat. The powerful storm left entire trees and debris scattered around the headquarters’ area like toothpicks spilled on the kitchen floor. The many miles of roads throughout the forest were blocked by countless wind-blown trees. Clean-up on the forest began with two main objectives. First, all debris and trees were cleared away from the facilities and utility rights-of-way to improve access and safety for the Lee Forest staff, the contractors making repairs on the facilities, the families that live on the forest, and the utility crews working to restore electricity to the area. Second, all roads were cleared to improve access to the forest for LSU personnel, as well as the logging crew. The Lee Forest staff of two employees  worked an astonishing 260 hours in the four weeks after the storm, just removing debris.

Even one year after the hurricane, recovery of the forest was still underway. Some areas had to be site prepped and reforested; whereas, other areas such as the natural area were left to recover naturally. The forest will take many years to fully recover; however, with proper forest management and carefully scheduled future harvests, it will eventually recover and prosper as it once did.

This history of Lee Memorial Forest was written in part by:

Dr. Norwin Linnartz, Dr. Charles Shilling, Dr. Donald Reed

Updated and revised in 2007 by:

Joseph Nehlig, Research Associate Coordinator, Lee Memorial Forest