Transmission Line Habitats
In 2004, Cleco and other organizations combined their resources to increase the turkey population and give other wildlife a boost by providing food and habitat plots along its transmission lines rights of way.
Elizabeth project
Cleco and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) joined efforts to enhance the habitat of its transmission rights of way that run through the West Bay Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near Elizabeth, La.
Food plots were planted along the corridors that contain transmission lines in the WMA to feed baby turkeys and reduce plant and tree overgrowth around the lines. Thick brush and trees in right-of-way areas limit access to power lines by line crews and create safety hazards.
Cleco donated millet seed and fertilizer and the LDWF provided the labor to plant three miles of food plots. The plots were intended to attract insects, which are important to the diets of young, growing turkeys, while mature turkeys feed on the seed. The plots also provide tall grass to protect the poults.
Camp Livingston project
The company later worked with the Louisiana Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) and the USDA Forest Service to plant 10 acres of food plots along two miles of a transmission line right of way in the Catahoula Ranger District of the Kisatchie National Forest at Camp Livingston.
The food plots provide low-growing, grassy areas where turkey chicks can find and devour the bugs they need in the first weeks of their lives.
Cleco arranged for a contractor to clear the unwanted vegetation in its rights of way and also paid for the seed and fertilizer. The USDA Forest Service prepared the area for planting and seeded the plots. They also agreed to maintain the site -- a total of 57 acres. The NWTF purchased gates and signage to protect the site and inform the public.
In addition, the company budgeted dollars to purchase seed and fertilizer for the life of the project and will support it as long as possible.
Cleco uses right-of-way to build and maintain power lines. Controlling the activity along transmission lines enables the company to better maintain the easement areas.
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