During the time local timbering interests were proposing to cut down the recovering cypress forest around Lake Maurepas to grind into garden mulch, Southeastern Louisiana University Biologist Dr. Gary Schaffer analyzed these woodlands to determine which parts were likely to recover and which would not. This map indicated that, given a number of widely recognized factors, only a minor portion would. Since then, the great majority of these lands have gone into conservation within the three LA WL&F Wildlife Management Areas around the lake.