This Hidden Nature Preserve In Louisiana Is Only Open A Few Times A Year, And Now's Your Chance
By Jackie Ann|Published March 27, 2019
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Jackie Ann
Author
Louisiana native and LSU Alum (Geaux Tigers!), Jackie has lived in Louisiana for over three decades and currently lives in New Orleans. She's been writing for OnlyInYourState since 2016 and can often be found with a coffee at her side, dreaming of her next adventure.
Caroline Dormon was Louisiana’s very own wonder woman. From being the first woman hired in the United States Forest Service to her many preservation efforts for Louisiana’s native plant life, we owe Caroline Dormon a great deal of thanks for many of the natural landscapes we are blessed to enjoy (Kisatchie National Forest and the Louisiana State Arboretum, just to name a few). She gifted her home to the public after she died, and today it’s an incredible nature preserve like none you’ve ever seen before. It’s only open a few times a year and now’s your chance to check it out.
Nestled within the rolling hills of the Kisatchie National Forest, Briarwood Nature Preserve might just be the best hidden gem in Louisiana.
It was once the home of the world-renowned botanist, author, preservationist, and historian Caroline Dormon, who was actually born here in 1888. Prior to that, the property belonged to Caroline's grandparents who started a cotton plantation (named Briarwood) in 1859.
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Caroline Dormon had an interest in plants and wildlife from a very early age.
After college and teaching for many years in several Louisiana schools, she moved back to Briarwood in 1918 and built her dream home while beginning to collect and preserve native trees and plants. In 1922, she persuaded the United States Forest Service to establish a national forest in Louisiana and played a huge part in bringing the Kisatchie National Forest (Louisiana’s only national forest) to fruition.
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When she died in 1971, she willed Briarwood to the public.
It’s run by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve who continue to carry on the work that was started by Caroline so many years ago.
