A Louisiana landowner bought 300 acres to raise cattle, but repeated floods changed his plans; he is now restoring wetlands and planting 183 acres of forest to connect wildlife habitats

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).