‘Belizaire the Cajun’ director sheds light on portrayal of Louisiana history 1D
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S u n d ay, M a r c h 22, 2026
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THE ASHES Conservationists torch acreage in effort to restore majestic longleaf pines
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Child deaths draw sharp questions from state lawmakers Louisiana senators demand overhaul of DCFS
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
Lance Buisson with the St. Tammany Parish Fire Department helps a controlled burn in St. Tammany Parish on Wednesday. Efforts have expanded to bring back majestic longleaf pine trees in Louisiana.
“If you care about the environment and you care about biodiversity, and you live in an area where longleaf was historically the natural ecosystem, it’s hard to do anything better than to restore this system.”
BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer
Flames crackle as Hunter Hutchinson maneuvers his torch along the edge of the woods, intentionally igniting a fire to allow a return of the long-lost past. “The fire helps to reclaim these areas,” Hutchinson, 39, said as flames blackened underbrush in a section of rural St. Tammany Parish. “The objective in these areas like this is to get sunlight in here.” By the end of the day, Hutchinson and the rest of the burn team planned to torch around 800 acres — and, in turn, help an iconic tree rise above the ashes. The prescribed burn is part of larger efforts across the southern United States to restore longleaf pine trees, which once towered above some 90 million acres across nine states from Virginia to east Texas and down to Florida, including vast areas of Louisiana. Logging, the desire for faster-growing timber and fewer fires were among the factors that reduced that number all the way down to only around 3 million acres — barely a blip in historical terms. The trees and their needles, dangling in bunches like bright green cheerleader pompoms, are more than just picturesque reminders of the past.
ä See PINES, page 3A
WILL deGRAVELLES, restoration ecologist at The Nature Conservancy
Longleaf pines grow in St. Tammany Parish.
Historic range of longleaf pine trees Longleaf pine forests once covered more than 90 million acres across the southern United States, States including parts of Louisiana. That number plummeted to around 3 million acres, but restoration efforts have boosted that number in recent years.
MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI
ALABAMA ALABAMA
TEXAS TEXAS
VIRGINIA VIRGINIA
ä See QUESTIONS, page 4A
Acadian descendants may qualify for Canadian citizenship
Documenting ancestral ties is first step, attorneys say
NOR TH NORTH CAROLINA C AROLINA
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
G GEORGIA EORGIA SOUTH SOUTH CAROLINA C AROLINA
LOUISIANA LOUISIANA FLORIDA FLORIDA
Source: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
State Sen. Regina Barrow was visibly emotional, at times holding back tears as she talked about Louisiana children facing abuse and neglect. “They need our help, and we cannot fail them,” she said, “’cause when we do fail them, it may actually mean the death sentence of the child.” Her comment came Tuesday while presenting legislation to dismantle the Department of Children and Family Services, Barrow which she says is structurally broken — and continues to let abused and neglected children die — even though lawmakers for years have been imploring the agency to get its act together. The agency can’t wait until next year or even next month to make changes that will protect children, she said. Both Democrats and Republicans have echoed Barrow’s disillusionment. While they say they’re unlikely to actually abolish the department outright, they are demanding changes at the child welfare agency and a clear plan from top officials on what they’ll do in the days and months ahead. “You know what this 213-page bill represents? Frustration,” Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, told DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris at the hearing.
Staff graphic
Cajuns with an unbroken line to an Acadian ancestor from the Maritime Provinces may already qualify as Canadian citizens — though that interpretation is not universally agreed upon. Two Canadian immigration lawyers say descendants can obtain proof of citizenship by documenting their lineage, allowing them to live in Canada and apply for a Canadian passport. An “unbroken line” refers to direct descent — parent to child — linking an applicant to an Acadian ancestor. “The argument is that they’re not becoming a Canadian, but they already are,” said Yameena Ansari, a Canadian immigration attorney.
ä See CITIZENSHIP, page 4A
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101ST yEAR, NO. 265