“Animals live in forests and they’re not making any more of that. I wanted to build a forest, so have taken farmland and reversed it. Seeing the animals flourish, that is the reward. In the autumn, I see beaver-almost unheard of. We have 12 alligator nesting areas, and I’ve spotted a cougar. Here, you see the balance of nature.”

            – Tim Bourgeois, Cypress Knee Ranch and
              Owner of PBC Services, Houma.

Cypress Knee Ranch – 800 acres located in Lafourche Parish

Bottomland hardwood and cypress forest, marsh and pond provide a home for perch and bass, many varieties of birds (including a resident bald eagle), deer, alligator “and coyote and bobcat galore.”

Landowner: Tim Bourgeois. “My family’s been in the area since the 1700s. We rafted down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers into St. James Parish to join the French colony of Louisiana following expulsion of the Cajuns from Canada.”

History: Purchased parcels of the current property starting in 1995 with the intention of preserving the land. “Then I found out about mitigation and was able to turn this cattle pasture back in to forest. I’ve planted 150,000 trees at a 95% success rate; the hardwoods planted 10 years ago are now 25- 30 feet tall.”

Why: “The impact of land conservation is very personal to me. I believe deeply in the words of the Desiderata: ‘Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.’ Here, I came to my Shangri-La, and I am able to share it with family and friends who see the point.”

LTL Connection: Tim is a past Board Member, particularly involved with stewardship activities on easement-protected properties. He and his wife have donated a 121—acre conservation easement with two more planned, and are working with LTL to secure Knobloch Foundation funding for baseline/survey work through Partnership for Gulf Coast Land Conservation.