The Mapped Oaks Project
Students from the McNeese State University program in Natural Resource Conservation and Management are locating and documenting mature live oaks (Quercus virginiana) as they walk along public streets in Lake Charles. They record the tree location, height, and trunk circumference. The circumference is converted to trunk diameter, known as DBH, diameter at breast height. The tree locations are mapped from Global Positioning System coordinates recorded by smart phones. Many oaks have their pictures taken.
We started on McNeese campus (over 200 mature oaks), proceeding to downtown Lake Charles and the Charpentier Historic District, Central School, the Civic (Event) Center and Lakeshore Drive along the Lake Charles beach, Enterprise Boulevard, St. Patrick Hospital, University Place, Oak Park
subdivision, West McNeese neighborhoods, College Oaks, Prien Lake Park, south Lake Street, Sale Street, and the Tuten Park area. Limited trees in Moss Bluff and Sulphur. Over 3,700 oaks are mapped, only a small fraction of the mature live oaks in our area.
This project is funded by the Violet Howell, Daniel and Ellen Goos, and Louie D. Barbe Endowed Professorships.
Survey areas so far
See The Maps
Adding Trees
Over 3700 oaks are in our database. That's a lot, but this is a small fraction of the total mature oaks in southwest Louisiana. Do you have a mature tree to put on the map? Let us know.