Land Clearing & Reclamation
Brush, trees, and years of overgrowth cleared and reclaimed — turning unusable acreage back into open, accessible ground that is worth more.
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When somebody calls about land clearing in Sterlington, the first conversation is usually about water. Sterlington sits at the north end of Ouachita Parish, right where Bayou Bartholomew, the longest bayou in the world, meets the Ouachita River after winding more than three hundred miles down out of Arkansas. Big Cypress Land and Game covers Sterlington and the country around it from our shop in Rayville, about thirty six miles and a forty minute drive away. Owner Mike Martien is a nationally recognized land specialist and an FAA Part 107 drone pilot, and he has spent his career reading ground like this, where river bottom and buildable acreage sit fence to fence.
The town itself is one of the fastest growing in northeast Louisiana. The census counted 1,594 people in 2010 and 1,980 in 2020, and estimates since have pushed past 2,500. The motto here is You've Made It Home, and the dirt work backs it up, with new streets planned off Lea Morgan Road and acreage lots selling along US 165 and Highway 2 toward the Union Parish line. Every one of those home sites starts with a cleared lot and a pad that sheds water. That is our trade: land clearing, forestry mulching, stump grinding, dirt work and grading, gravel driveways, bush hogging, pond construction, and wildlife habitat work.
Sterlington was a crossroads and a plant town for most of a century. The chemical plant north of town has anchored that end of the parish since 1930, and US 165 carried the rest of the traffic north out of Monroe. The last stretch of years changed the picture. The town grew about 24 percent between 2010 and 2020 and has kept climbing since, with a 110 home subdivision proposed off Lea Morgan Road in 2025 and new construction selling at Somerset Park. Nearly every one of those home sites begins as timber or old pasture that has to be cleared before a slab ever gets formed.
Our lot clearing in Sterlington runs from a single acre to a full tract. We walk the property with you first and mark the trees worth keeping, because a good oak in the yard adds value and a sweetgum thicket does not. Then we clear and grub the building envelope, grind or haul the stumps, and leave a clean site ready for pad work. If the lot sits back off the road, we can cut the driveway and rock it on the same mobilization, which saves you a second contractor and a second wait.
Sterlington sits at seventy nine feet of elevation, with the Ouachita River on the west side of town and Bayou DeSiard close enough that the newest subdivision plan has to bore its sewer line underneath it. When this much water moves past a town, drainage decides how every yard of dirt gets shaped. The town's own plans for new development grade stormwater off Lea Morgan Road and back to the bayou, and a single home site follows the same rule. The pad has to sit up and the grade has to move water off the slab. Every ditch needs an outlet that actually drains.
We build house and shop pads from compacted fill that stay above the wet years, and we put in gravel driveways with enough base rock to survive February. The same work carries farther off the pavement as access roads for camps and back acreage. Ponds belong in this conversation too. The heavy clay in these bottoms is honest pond ground, and we cut ponds that hold water year round, whether you want a stock pond behind the house or a duck hole on the back of the place.
North of Sterlington the country turns back to timber and river bottom. The Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge covers 42,500 acres along the river through Union and Morehouse parishes, most of it bottomland hardwood that floods and holds ducks in the standing timber. Bayou Bartholomew comes down through cypress and tupelo to meet the Ouachita right at town, and biologists rank it among the most diverse streams in North America. Private ground between Sterlington and the Arkansas line hunts the same way the refuge does. Deer bed in the thickets and ducks work the backwater. Squirrel hunters get started early in the year.
Hunting ground is the work we know best. We cut shooting lanes and mulch out the underbrush, and we prep food plot ground on the spots that stay dry. We build access roads that still reach the stand after a wet November. Forestry mulching fits these bottoms because it clears the understory without tearing up the root mat that holds the ground together. Before a machine ever rolls, Mike can fly the tract and map it, so lanes, plots, and roads get planned around where the water actually goes instead of guessed at from the tailgate.
Communities & areas we serve around Sterlington: Swartz, Fairbanks, Spencer, Haile, Marion, Ouachita City.
Sterlington ZIP codes served: 71280, 71203.
Free, no-obligation estimates throughout Ouachita Parish and across Northeast Louisiana.
(318) 235-7597 Brush, trees, and years of overgrowth cleared and reclaimed — turning unusable acreage back into open, accessible ground that is worth more.
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Building pads, grading, leveling, and drainage shaping — stable, well-drained ground ready for construction, agriculture, or recreation.
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Access roads, gravel driveways, interior trails, and culvert crossings — all-weather access that makes your land usable and more valuable.
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Food plots, shooting lanes, trail systems, and habitat improvements designed to hold deer and grow healthier game — by a landowner who hunts his own work.
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FAA-certified aerial imagery, property mapping, and drone-based deer herd assessments — a clearer view of your land for planning, marketing, and management.
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What makes Big Cypress different: every project is guided by a nationally recognized land specialist with America’s Land Partners — so your improvements are planned around usability, enjoyment, and long-term value.
Meet MikeReal words from clients who’ve trusted Mike with their land as a land specialist with America’s Land Partners — the same care and work ethic he brings to every Big Cypress project.
“Mike Martien secured my real estate sale through very difficult circumstances. He went above and beyond what would be expected of any agent. Anyone would be in the best of hands letting Mike work for you and with you.”
“We’ve known Mike for over 30 years. His work ethic and knowledge are exceptional. He’s passionate about helping others, trustworthy, and puts his client’s needs first. We highly recommend him to anyone working with land.”
“Mike has lifelong experience dealing with land management and development. His experience shows in researching current trends and values. For the most appropriate valuations and ease of sales, he can’t be beat.”
“With an excessive amount of hurdles and more problems than anyone could imagine, he never slowed down or got discouraged. If anyone needs someone that is all about your best interest, this is the one to call.”
“He’s beyond knowledgeable about whatever it takes to get a land deal worked out — even the tax side. He did a whole lot of legwork to get it done. Thanks again Mike, appreciate it more than you know.”
“His commitment to his customer and to the detail of the task at hand is unrivalled. I suggest for anyone selling or buying any land to use him. You won’t be disappointed.”
A few of the questions we hear most around Sterlington. Don’t see yours? Call us — we’re happy to help.
Ready to improve, enjoy, or get more value out of your land in Northeast Louisiana? Reach out for a free, no-obligation consultation — and put a fellow landowner’s experience to work on your property. Buying or selling? Mike wears that hat too, as a land specialist with America’s Land Partners.