On the brink of extinction in 1992, the Louisiana black bear was added to the threatened and endangered species list.

At the time of listing, more than 80 percent of suitable Louisiana black bear habitat was lost. The bottomland hardwood forests of the Louisiana Delta were cleared for row crop production; roads, homes and towns were built; and humans began encountering the shy, but curious, Louisiana black bear more often. The habitat fragmentation, or isolation of suitable patches of hardwood bottoms, affected the bears’ ability to travel for food, to find mates or simply to relocate to a more desirable spot to live.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Louisiana Black Bear Recovery Plan recognized the critical role USDA conservation programs would play in restoring, reconnecting and protecting the habitat, calling USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a “major contributor to habitat restoration and protection via its wetland reserve program.”

“What we’re really talking about here is the power of partnerships. The power of a shared vision for conservation,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director Steve Guertin as he thanked the partners involved with the recovery efforts. “The national wildlife refuge system has been an anchor to the larger effort, but we focused on increasing the ability of these animals to move across the landscape. USDA’s NRCS did the lion’s share of habitat restoration and protection on private lands.”