LOUISIANA LOOKOUTS
TURKEY CREEK
Evangeline Parish
December 16, 1975: "In these modern times, man has devised ingenious methods of detecting forest fires, including soaring steel structures and sharp-eyed men in low-flying airplanes.
But there was a time when a tall tree had to do.
North of Turkey Creek in Evangeline Parish on U.S. 167, a tall, thin-topped pine is silhouetted against the sky. It is a large loblolly and is significant as a reminder of the vast expanse of virgin pine and hardwood forest which once covered most of Louisiana.
It is significant in another way, too, though, for clinging to its branches more than a hundred feet above the earth are a few old rotting boards, and scattered along its trunk are three-foot-long oak cross pieces that ascend to what was once a sturdy wooden platform -- these are the remnants of an old tree tower built more than three decades ago, the first fire tower in Evangeline Parish.
Erected during World War II, in 1942, the tree tower was used in the war effort by the Louisiana Department of Conservation's Division of Forestry, now the Louisiana Forestry Commission, in spotting airplanes for the Aircraft Warning System of the Interceptor Command. In addition, it was part of the forest fire control system around what had become a vital defense area because of several army camps established in this Central Louisiana area.
Metals were in critically short supply during war days, so steel tower construction was impossible. So if only briefly, the old loblolly sentinel served its country as best it could, as well as bringing protection from fire to the timberland around it.
The stand of timber in which the tree is located is one of the few remaining stands of virgin pine in Louisiana. The tree was selected because it was one of the tallest, 153 feet, and because it was easily accessible from the highway.
Alas, like many plans of man, the fire tower tree had one all-important flaw: nobody wanted to climb a hundred feet and perch on the precarious platform for three hours at a time.
The old pine still stands among its evergreen brethren, though fire, insects, disease and Hurricane Audrey in 1957 have taken their toll on the stand of virgin loblolly.
The tower tree remains, a majestic memorial to man's efforts to protect it and its kind." (The Ruston Daily Leader)
But there was a time when a tall tree had to do.
North of Turkey Creek in Evangeline Parish on U.S. 167, a tall, thin-topped pine is silhouetted against the sky. It is a large loblolly and is significant as a reminder of the vast expanse of virgin pine and hardwood forest which once covered most of Louisiana.
It is significant in another way, too, though, for clinging to its branches more than a hundred feet above the earth are a few old rotting boards, and scattered along its trunk are three-foot-long oak cross pieces that ascend to what was once a sturdy wooden platform -- these are the remnants of an old tree tower built more than three decades ago, the first fire tower in Evangeline Parish.
Erected during World War II, in 1942, the tree tower was used in the war effort by the Louisiana Department of Conservation's Division of Forestry, now the Louisiana Forestry Commission, in spotting airplanes for the Aircraft Warning System of the Interceptor Command. In addition, it was part of the forest fire control system around what had become a vital defense area because of several army camps established in this Central Louisiana area.
Metals were in critically short supply during war days, so steel tower construction was impossible. So if only briefly, the old loblolly sentinel served its country as best it could, as well as bringing protection from fire to the timberland around it.
The stand of timber in which the tree is located is one of the few remaining stands of virgin pine in Louisiana. The tree was selected because it was one of the tallest, 153 feet, and because it was easily accessible from the highway.
Alas, like many plans of man, the fire tower tree had one all-important flaw: nobody wanted to climb a hundred feet and perch on the precarious platform for three hours at a time.
The old pine still stands among its evergreen brethren, though fire, insects, disease and Hurricane Audrey in 1957 have taken their toll on the stand of virgin loblolly.
The tower tree remains, a majestic memorial to man's efforts to protect it and its kind." (The Ruston Daily Leader)