Nearly 50% of Louisiana’s land mass is covered by forest. That’s a whopping 14 million acres of tress. And these tress aren’t just sitting there beautifying the countryside, they’re hard at work. The forestry industry in Louisiana is the state’s second-largest employer.

And there’s a huge private sector in the world of woods as well. 

Warren Peters has built a career around tending to Louisiana’s forest lands. His 20 year old company, Peters Forest Resources, provides all phases of forest management, from reforestation to harvest supervision. The company also does large inventories, mappings, financial analysis, appraisals, ecological studies and provides brokerage services. If you’re a city dweller you might not think much about this, but it’s big business based right here in the center of Baton Rouge.  

While Louisiana is rich in forest lands, it is also resplendent with semi-tropical trees, plants, flowers and fruits.

Jeb Barber spends his days taming and cultivating this natural beauty and bringing it to homes and businesses. His seven year old company, Makaira Landscape, is a design, build and maintenance company that specializes in cutting-edge landscape design and residential swimming pools. If you think there’s a lot of swimming pools in Baton Rouge, you’re right. Jeb claims we have the highest per capita pool ratio in the nation.

Stephanie, Warren adn Jeb tackles the great (and not always so great) outdoors on this inside look at business Baton Rouge style.

Photos at Mansurs on the Boulevard by Ken Stewart.