If all goes according to plan, Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge will change dramatically over the next 15 years.

&8220;If we get the budget we need, this place will be very different in 15 years,&8221; refuge manager Mike Esters said. &8220;I know we probably won’t get every budget request, but this plan gives me some leverage when I do make a request.&8221;

The plan Esters spoke of is the Bayou Cocodrie NWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan, designed to direct the development of the refuge for the next 15 years. All National Wildlife Refuges have been required by law to make one.

Bayou Cocodrie’s plan took seven years to complete, in part because of numerous directives from the national office on changes that had to be made in the formatting and specifics of the plan. Bayou Cocodrie was a test case for the new plans, so most refuges shouldn’t take as long finalizing their plans.

A large part of the plan is to make the refuge more inviting to visitors. Most of the visitors at the refuge right now are hunters. Esters said one of the goals of the plan is to make the park more attractive to visitors who aren’t interested in hunting.

According to the plan, there will be a visitor center, miles of hiking trails and more visitors to use them. There will also be twice the number of permanent staff members the refuge has today.

Developed with the input of various government agencies, scientists, landowners and members of local communities, the plan has served as a way to join the refuge to its community and local landowners.

&8220;I think the best thing out the plan is the partnerships that we developed making it,&8221; Esters said.

The plan also provides structure for smaller plans, such as a plan to remove some timber from the refuge.

As part of the plan, the refuge will be making its first timber stand improvement cuts. John Simpson, the staff forester, will mark trees that need to be removed in order to improve the habitat for wildlife. The first cut, assuming the plan is approved by the national office, will be early next year. No timber has been cut since the land moved into U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hands in 1992.

But more important than human visitors to the refuge are the non-human ones.

The refuge is best-known for its wide variety of bird species. All kinds of birds, including waterfowl, shore birds, songbirds and neotropical migratory birds make their homes in the refuge or use it as a temporary stopover during migration. In all, 186 species have been seen on the refuge.

But the staff would also like to have some larger and more furry denizens. The refuge aims to develop a resident population of Louisiana black bears.

One female has been sighted making trips into the southern end of the refuge, and Esters said the staff hopes that means more may be on the way.

The refuge is attempting to connect existing stands of bottomland hardwoods to make larger areas and to form a corridor between existing stands. This is done by buying parcels of land or working with landowners to make land as friendly to wildlife as possible.

&8220;We’re trying to make a corridor between Tensas, here, Three Rivers and the Atchafalaya Basin,&8221; John Dickson, the refuge’s private lands biologist, said. &8220;That way the bears can travel through here and birds will have a way to go.&8221;

There is a limited amount of funding for such projects, so the plan prioritizes different areas according to how important they are considered to be. Areas bordering refuges and those directly between refuges are the highest priority.

&8220;We’re just trying to get the most bang for our buck,&8221; Dickson said.

The plan puts into writing what the workers at the refuge have been doing anyway, Esters said. But now the work has been put into writing and given a long-range focus.

Over the last few weeks, the staff has been working to make temporary retaining ponds for migrating duck populations to use. That means Van and Tony Evans, the father and son team at the refuge, have been doing some tough work.

The Evans do most of the heavy lifting around the refuge. As the engineering equipment operators, they are the ones who make the ponds, repair the roads and generally do the work on the ground. They also maintain the refuge’s vehicles.