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. 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 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.
In January 2023, Liles applied to enrol the property in the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program’s Wetland Reserve Easement component, known as ACEP-WRE. Liles initially intended to use the flood-prone land for cattle grazing and soybean farming. However, repeated flooding made it difficult to turn those plans into a viable operation. Having experience with land development and conservation programmes, he explored an alternative that would allow the property to support wetland habitat and wildlife. The land lies in Franklin Parish, near the Boeuf River, Boeuf Wildlife Management Area and other properties already enrolled in wetland conservation programmes.
The Louisiana black bear, meanwhile, was removed from the federal Endangered Species Act list in 2016 after its recovery, although it remains protected under Louisiana state law.
The restored property connects and extends existing wildlife corridors, creating additional habitat connectivity for wildlife in the region, according to NRCS. The agency identifies the Louisiana black bear and northern long-eared bat among the species that can benefit from these connections. The northern long-eared bat is federally listed as endangered in the US, following severe population declines associated largely with white-nose syndrome, a disease that affects bats. The restoration of Liles’s property also builds on conservation work in the surrounding landscape. Its proximity to the Boeuf Wildlife Management Area and other conservation-enrolled land gives the project a role in extending habitat connections beyond the property itself. Rather than continuing to try to turn flood-prone land into something it was poorly suited for, he worked with conservation officials to restore its wetland and forest functions.