Dollars Make Sense: Cypress forests promote our economy by providing recreational opportunities like bird watching, hunting, and fishing.

The Value of Our Cypress

In 1963, the cypress tree was named Louisiana's state tree. Cypress forests provide tremendous environmental, cultural, recreational, and economic value to our state.

• Protect coastal communities by buffering against hurricanes and absorbing storm surges and flood waters
• Naturally filter pollutants and excess nutrients before they contaminate swimming and fishing areas
• Support our economy through tourism and recreation (i.e. swamp tours, boating, camping, fishing, photography)
• Provide critical habitat for wildlife, including threatened and endangered species such as the Louisiana black bear and the bald eagle.
• Sustain freshwater and coastal fisheries
• Minimize the impacts of global warming

	Science Working Group In 2004, the Governor commissioned a Science Working Group (SWG) to assess the state’s coastal forests and to identify what is necessary to sustain their long-term health and usefulness. The SWG’s final report (April 2005) can be viewed here. The SWG report confirms what has been long suspected: In many areas, the regeneration of cypress forests after logging is simply not possible. Due to changes in elevation and water flow over the past century, many cypress forests are permanently flooded and can’t regenerate.

The Current Threat

• Though Louisiana's wetlands face serious threats from coastal land loss and development, widespread clear cutting of cypress forests is a very imminent danger.
• A mixed message: State and federal officials are asking our nation for billions of dollars to restore Louisiana’s coast. However, it's not clear whether our cypress forests, which help to combat coastal erosion, are adequately protected from logging under current state and federal laws.
• Garden mulch is not just being created as a byproduct of cypress lumber; stands of cypress forest are being logged to produce it.
• Loggers are operating with little to no oversight. No state laws exist to protect Louisiana's state tree; some that are more than 1,000 years old.

The Impact

• Though many areas that were logged in the early 1900s have regenerated, local scientists believe that many of Louisiana’s coastal cypress forests would not grow back if they are now cut.
• Logging of cypress should only be allowed in areas that scientists and certified foresters find are sustainable and that can regenerate.

	Reality Check: Our thriving cypress forests are more valuable than clear-cut areas.(Photo source: US ACOE – New Orleans District, 11/2003)

The Need for Government Action

• State policies must be developed to discourage timber cutting in areas that are unlikely to regenerate.
• Incentives must be created for private landowners who own cypress forest. Options may include conservation easements, tax-deductible donations to a land trust, or the transfer of timber rights.

How You Can Help

• Call on local and state officials to take action to protect our threatened cypress forests. Find your local legislators at www.legis.state.la.us.
• Use alternatives to cypress mulch like pine bark, pine straw, or recycled sugar cane, which have been found to be just as effective as cypress mulch, or save money by using leaves from your own yard.
• Educate family and friends on the effects that using cypress mulch in their gardens and yards will have on Louisiana’s cypress forests, and ultimately our coast.
• Contact major mulch users in your area - city and state parks, schools, etc. - and ask them to use alternatives to cypress mulch.