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 you need land clearing in Tallulah, you are dealing with some of the flattest, richest ground in Louisiana. Tallulah is the Madison Parish seat, set where US 65 crosses US 80 on the Interstate 20 corridor, twenty two miles west of Vicksburg, with Brushy Bayou sliding through the middle of town. This is Mississippi Delta row crop country. The parish regularly leads Louisiana in corn, cotton and soybeans run close behind, and the crop dusting outfit that grew into Delta Air Lines flew its first seasons over these fields in the 1920s. Big Cypress Land and Game works out of Rayville, thirty six miles west on Interstate 20, about forty minutes from most tracts around Tallulah, and we treat Madison Parish as part of our home range.
Owner Mike Martien is a nationally recognized land specialist and an FAA Part 107 drone pilot, and this is the kind of country he reads well. Soils here run from Commerce silt loam on the old natural levee ridges to heavy Sharkey clay, the gumbo, out in the backswamp flats, and that difference decides how a tract clears and how fast it dries after a rain. Willow and sweetgum take an idle field corner in a couple of seasons, fencerows swallow their edges, and the bottoms toward the Tensas River refuge grow understory thick enough to lose a shooting lane in one summer. From farm ground near Mound and Waverly to hunting timber south of town, we clear it and put it back to work. Call (318) 235-7597.
Most overgrown tracts around Tallulah are bottomland hardwood regrowth. Willow and honey locust crowd the wet edges, sweetgum and sugarberry fill the fencerows, Nuttall and overcup oak hold the true bottoms, and briar ties the whole stand together until you cannot walk it. On row crop ground the trouble spots are field edges, old fence lines, ditch banks, and corners that missed a few years of bush hogging. Along Brushy Bayou, Roundaway Bayou, and Walnut Bayou the banks brush up fast, and a property line can disappear in a few seasons.
Forestry mulching is usually the right first tool on this ground. The mulcher grinds brush and small timber where it stands and leaves a layer of chips on the surface, so there are no burn piles to babysit and no torn up topsoil. We can clear selectively too, and take the sweetgum and briar out from under oaks you want to keep for deer. When a tract needs bare, plantable dirt for a pad or a plot, dozer and grubbing work comes in behind the mulcher, and stumps get ground below grade where you need clean dirt.
Tallulah sits about eighty five feet above sea level and the land barely tilts in any direction, so water goes where you tell it or it goes nowhere. Sharkey clay is the famous one here. Soil scientists took the official type location for the Sharkey series from a spot just northeast of Tallulah on US 65, and that gumbo swells shut when wet, cracks open in a dry August, and holds surface water on a field for days after a big rain. The Commerce silt loam on the old levee ridges drains better, and knowing which one you are standing on is half the job. Grading here is really drainage work. You cut fall into ground that has almost none, and you move water toward the bayous on purpose.
That same clay is hard on driveways and good for ponds. A gravel drive or camp road here needs a shaped, compacted base and enough stone to stay on top of the gumbo, or it will pump mud every wet winter. We build gravel drives, farm access roads, and house and camp pads that hold. For ponds the clay works in your favor, because ground that will not let water down makes a bottom that will not leak. We shape duck holes and stock ponds and tie them into the drainage instead of fighting it.
Madison Parish is serious deer country, and it is bear country too. Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge starts about twelve miles southwest of Tallulah, nearly eighty thousand acres of bottomland hardwood and oxbow lakes that hold the largest population of Louisiana black bear in the state. Big Lake WMA adds another 19,231 acres of the same forest where Madison, Tensas, and Franklin parishes meet. Louisiana brought back a limited black bear lottery hunt in December 2024, and the bear zone it draws from takes in Madison Parish. Private tracts around the refuge carry the same timber and the same deer.
We set hunting land up so it hunts. Food plots cut and worked into bottomland openings, shooting lanes pulled through thick timber, stand and camp access routes that stay passable in a wet November. Mike flies FAA Part 107 drone mapping over the property first, so you can see canopy, water, and travel corridors before a machine touches the ground, and the plot layout comes off the map instead of off a guess. On gumbo we time dirt work around soil moisture, because habitat work done in the wrong week leaves ruts that last for years.
Communities & areas we serve around Tallulah: Downtown Tallulah, Mound, Delta, Richmond, Waverly, Thomastown, Afton, Talla Bena, Milliken's Bend.
Tallulah ZIP codes served: 71282, 71284, 71233.
Free, no-obligation estimates throughout Madison 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 Tallulah. 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.