Louisiana State Park Planning and Design Using GIS—
Bogue Chitto Case Study

Louisiana state parks are natural areas that possess outstanding potential for recreational use. These natural areas have exceptional scenic and natural features that ensure high-quality recreation in a natural setting. GIS technology ensures that the planning and design of new state parks are carried out in an efficient and thorough fashion. It integrates fundamental state park location criteria, such as minimum size, buffer zones, and accessibility, and enables informed decision making. GIS technology can also help identify natural and man-made resources that offer opportunities for recreation and education in a natural setting and are accessible to nearby population centers.

The proposed 1,786-acre Bogue Chitto State Park represents a unique opportunity for the public to access one of the most dynamic and scenic river systems in Louisiana. The contrasting topography within the proposed park is the result of frequent channel switching of the Bogue Chitto River as it flows through the adjacent forested uplands. Abandoned gravel mining operations near the Bogue Chitto River have created attractive lakes and elevated spoil deposits of white sands. This park will enable visitors to experience a diversity of plant communities, wildlife, and habitats that include numerous natural sandbars, the lower braided stream floodplain system, lakes and sand dune areas, small streams, cypress tupelo swamps, a hardwood-forested gorge, bayhead swamps, and upland forests.

The planning and design of the proposed Bogue Chitto State Park using GIS technology enabled a more comprehensive, informative, and communicative analysis that incorporated existing natural features into the park's master plan. GIS layers, such as habitat, soils, wetlands, hydrology, and roads, were incorporated into complex siting slope, aspect, and other three-dimensional GIS analyses. Having a better understanding of the potential park site's characteristics gave its planners the ability to emphasize strengths while identifying possible obstacles.