Louisiana landowner turns 300 flood-prone acres into a wildlife corridor

A Louisiana landowner planned to raise cattle and grow soybeans on his property. However, repeated flooding from the Boeuf River made farming difficult. Michael Liles, who runs the land-development business 5L Land Development, turned to wetland restoration with help from the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The project covers more than 300 acres in Franklin Parish. It includes restoring water movement across 9.2 acres and establishing 183 acres of bottomland hardwood forest in February 2026. The restored land connects existing wildlife corridors and is intended to benefit species such as the Louisiana black bear and the endangered northern long-eared bat.

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