From the the 1994 Louisiana Life Magazine:
Bringing Cypress to its Knees
By Robert Fritchey
Some lumberjacks head for the hills; in Louisiana they go to the swamps
“Louisiana’s legislators proclaimed cypress the official state tree in 1963. They needn’t have bothered. While most states within the tree’s surprisingly wide range may boast of only scattered pockets of cypress swamp, few Bayou State residents live further than a short drive from a stand of these distinctive trees. Widely buttressed at their base, draped in moss and surrounded by knobby knees, they resemble giant, tortuously grown bonsai. The cypress is a tree that Louisianian recognizes and loves.”
“The value of the cypress extends beyond the aesthetic, however; the tree is a renewable natural resource, the exploitation of which helped shape the state’s early course of development. What’s more, the cypress continues to support many Louisianians today.”
“Many log the ‘young’ nearly 100-year-old second-growth trees from the state’s bottomlands. Others dive to the bottoms of lakes and bayous in search of prized thousand-year-old logs; a few travel the country reclaiming antique timbers from buildings constructed of virgin Louisiana cypress at the turn of the century. Other Louisianians add value to this home-grown wood by milling it into marketable lumber products like siding and fencing, paneling, flooring, molding and other architectural millwork. Still others craft it into finished products like furniture, cabinetry, even boasts. To these men and women, the cypress tree represents more than a poignant silhouette along a lake’s shoreline – it’s a livelihood.”
From the 1994 Louisiana Life Magazine article: “Richard Woods (below) holds a board of ‘pecky’ cypress. Holes caused by a wood-eating fungus immune to the cypress’ resin create a desirable, valued product for decorative finishes.”
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