Briarwood Nature Preserve

06/03/2026

That snake in "your yard" has no idea what yard or property lines are and this juvenile cottonmouth water moccasin (Agkistrodon sp) has no idea what a house is.

🐍 🐍 ARE NOT out to get you, in fact they want nothing to do with you AND they still spend their lives protecting you and your family. Another "fun fact" is that when you kill a snake to "protect your family" you're actually putting them in more risk.

How are they protecting your family? They eat disease spreading mice, rats, fleas, ticks and mites that spread horrible diseases to humans, pets and livestock. These rodents also cause numerous deadly house fires each year. Also, snakes protect your garden and our crops thst feed your family. Lastly, many lifesaving medicines are already derived from snake venom, to name a few reason!

Your porch lights attract bugs. Those bugs attract frogs, toads, geckos and lizards...snakes eat all of those. Your front porch?? It's almost always cool and damp right against your house, even when temps are through the roof. That darker part of the bottom of your exterior wall offers protection from one full side, cooler temps for coldblooded animals and typically food crawling around the area.

Don't want a venomous snake on your porch or in your yard? I get it, that's why we offer relocations. But coexisting and letting an animal live becomes possible when you realize they truly want nothing to do with you or your family, they just wandered into "your yard" trying to find their next meal. No animal should have to die for accidentally ending up in a great spot to grab that meal.


Louisiana Snake ID
Billy Nungesser Lt. Governor of Louisiana
Louisiana State Parks
Louisiana First News
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Explore Louisiana
Bass Pro Shops
Bayou Wild TV
Cabela's
Briarwood Nature Preserve
Nature

05/27/2026

Thank you Gabe Firment, District 22 State Representative!

05/26/2026

05/20/2026

Official statement from the Foundation for the Preservation of the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve, INC. regarding ongoing discussion about the Kisatchie National Forest.

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May 15th, 2026

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The Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve feels compelled to speak clearly regarding the recently proposed legislation involving the transfer of portions of Kisatchie National Forest within Grant Parish.

Caroline Dormon devoted much of her life to the protection of Louisiana’s forests during a time when much of our state’s longleaf pine landscape was rapidly disappearing. She worked alongside foresters, legislators, and conservationists to advocate for the establishment of Kisatchie National Forest and even helped draft the enabling legislation that allowed federal land acquisition for the forest in Louisiana. Her work was rooted in the belief that some landscapes are worth protecting not only for ourselves, but for future generations.

Because of that history, proposals involving the transfer, restructuring, development, or long-term stewardship of National Forest lands are matters Briarwood prioritizes as central and paramount.

We recognize and respect that rural communities often carry significant responsibilities associated with public lands, including infrastructure pressures, emergency response, wildfire concerns, and law enforcement demands. Conversations regarding economic opportunity, local input, and federal partnership are valid and important discussions to have.

However, we also believe Louisiana’s public forests hold immense ecological, historical, recreational, educational, and cultural value extending far beyond parish boundaries. Once public lands are fragmented, transferred, or substantially altered, those decisions may impact generations far into the future.

As the organization entrusted with preserving the legacy of Caroline Dormon, a woman whose work helped make Kisatchie National Forest possible, we believe it is important to state plainly that we oppose efforts that would weaken federal protections or place the long-term future of these public lands at risk.

Our hope is that all discussions surrounding Kisatchie National Forest proceed with transparency, careful public involvement, and thoughtful long-term consideration. Public lands belong not only to the present generation, but also to those who will inherit them after us.

We encourage citizens to remain informed, review proposals carefully, ask questions, and respectfully communicate with elected officials regarding the future stewardship of Louisiana’s forests.

At Briarwood, our mission remains rooted in conservation, education, history, and the preservation of the legacy entrusted to us by Caroline Dormon herself.

Respectfully,

The Foundation for the Preservation of the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve, INC.

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For any questions or concerns, please call or text 318-576-3379, or email Bayli at [email protected].

Kisatchie National Forest
Louisiana Wildlife Federation
The Nature Conservancy in Louisiana
KALB News Channel 5
KNOE 8 News
KTBS 3 News
KTAL NBC 6
KSLA News 12
WAFB Channel 9

05/15/2026

The Story of Kisatchie told by Caroline Dormon, Mother of the Forest, Protector of the Pines

The Story of Kisatchie

05/13/2026

I really believe children are born naturalists. Nobody has to teach them to stop and admire a bug, pick up a leaf, or ask a hundred questions about the woods around them. That curiosity is already there from the very beginning. Maybe our job is not to teach children to love nature, but to make sure they never lose that love in the first place, and give them the opportunity to.

05/10/2026

I recently came across the term “mother trees”, which some scientists are using to describe the oldest trees in a forest. They’ve discovered that these large old trees are connected to the younger forest around them through underground fungal networks, helping share nutrients, water, and even warning signals. The more I read about it, the more I immediately thought about the trees here at Briarwood….

I thought about our huge Post Oak and Grandpappy, the giant old Longleaf Pine, both of which have stood on this land longer than most people can even comprehend. They’ve survived tornadoes, droughts, ice storms, lightning strikes, changing landscapes, and generations of people coming and going, yet they continue quietly supporting everything around them every single day!

Becoming a mother has changed the way I see the woods. Before having children, I think I mostly admired trees for their beauty, size, and age. Now I look at them differently after learning about the term “mother trees”. I think about how much of motherhood exists in the quiet things nobody really notices... Constantly watching over others, trying to create stability, hoping the things you pour your heart into today continue helping long after you are gone.

Caroline Dormon understood that kind of long-term love too. She planted trees and gardens she knew she might never fully see mature. She fought to establish the Kisatchie National Forest for future generations. She protected land knowing those generations would one day benefit from it. In a way, she mothered this place too.

There’s something comforting about knowing nature operates the same way. The oldest things in the forest are often the ones still carrying the weight of helping everything around them survive.

Anyway, I just found the whole concept really beautiful and wanted to share it today.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, especially the ones doing the quiet work that keeps everything around them growing.

♥️ 🌲

05/09/2026

Some of our current blooms around the property ~ yellow, white, and purple!

• Lantana
• Black-eyed Susan
• Lanceleaf Coreopsis
• Redring Milkweed
• Southern Magnolia
• Oakleaf Hydrangea
• Spiderwort
• Pinewoods Lily
• Pickerel W**d

Every week brings something new to discover. It is one of the most beautiful times of year to experience the diversity of native Louisiana plants at Briarwood.

05/06/2026

Hey folks! Would you do me a favor by taking this short and anonymous survey? THANK YOU!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BJGP8NY

04/30/2026

I often get told, “I hardly see lightening bugs anymore”, “I don’t ever hear whipoorwills anymore”, “we used to see Bobwhite Quail in our yard”. ETC

Well, here is your answer. We have been conditioned to believe we need perfectly manicured gardens, pretty lawns, and spray for bugs every year. And then we question, “where are the butterflies?”.

This is one of the most important reasons to support non-profit organizations such as Briarwood so we can continue to protect the natural areas we have left.

Shifting baseline syndrome (SBS) is what happens when we forget how vibrant the natural world used to be. Each generation grows up with a more depleted environment and calls it “normal,” simply because it’s all they’ve ever known.

Think about walking through a park and thinking, “This seems healthy.” But maybe 30 years ago that same park had twice as many birds, wildflowers, or insects. If you never saw that version, you don’t feel the loss — and that quiet forgetting becomes the new baseline. Over time, we start accepting degraded ecosystems as normal.

Researchers warn that this shift lowers our expectations, increases our tolerance for decline, and reduces our urgency to protect what’s left.

What helps:

Intergenerational conversations that reconnect us with what nature used to be.

Direct experiences with nature that sharpen our awareness of change.

Remembering (knowing) the past is the first step to restoring the future.