Restoring Louisiana Black Bear Habitat

Louisiana black bears were hard-hit in the last century by the conversion of their bottomland hardwood forest habitat into agricultural fields. By 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the species as threatened with extinction. Since then, "tremendous progress has been made" in restoring their habitat, says Deborah Fuller, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Program Coordinator in Lafayette, LA. At least 200,000 acres in Louisiana have been set aside to encourage the bear's recovery -- much of the land is at or near Bayou Teche and Tensas River National Wildlife Refuges.

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