(04/02/25) COLUMBIA, La. — Caldwell Parish native Lucas “Luke” Stamper was recently named the new wildlife specialist for the state after serving as the LSU AgCenter regional wildlife and forestry contact for northeast Louisiana.

Stamper, who said he knew he wanted to be a wildlife biologist in high school, received his Bachelor of Science in wildlife ecology from LSU before getting his master’s degree at the University of Louisiana Monroe. He then returned to LSU for his doctorate from the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences with a focus on weed science.

“I’ve always been an outdoorsman and was raised outside hunting and fishing,” he said. “I’ve always had a love for wildlife and the various management practices revolving around each species.”

Tara Smith, AgCenter executive associate vice president and director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, said Stamper is the right person for the job, which helps protect billions in revenue for the state.

“Forestry is over a $3.4 billion industry in Louisiana, and the value of wildlife and fisheries enterprises across the state exceed $800 million annually,” Smith said. “We are beyond excited to capitalize on Dr. Stamper’s expertise in this arena and work towards implementing a dynamic statewide wildlife extension program.”

The wildlife specialist position is a 100% extension appointment that will have Stamper traveling throughout the state educating stakeholders on how to deal with bothersome native and invasive species, from weeds to feral hogs.

“There’s a lot of interest in habitat management and food plots, whether it’s for whitetail deer or waterfowl,” Stamper said. “On the vegetation side, we want to train landowners on management techniques that they can eventually do themselves.”

Melissa Cater, associate director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service and AgCenter Northeast Region director, said Stamper is well-respected both inside and outside of the AgCenter, and she expects him to be successful in his expanded position.

“Dr. Stamper has a wealth of extension experience that he brings to the wildlife specialist position, so I am excited to see how he expands his very successful regional program to a statewide audience,” Cater said. “Clientele and AgCenter personnel alike recognize his expertise and view him as a go-to person for wildlife extension programming.”

Allen Rutherford, director of the School of Renewable Natural Resources and executive associate dean of the LSU College of Agriculture, echoed Cater’s sentiments.

“I believe Luke Stamper’s new statewide wildlife duties are a valuable addition to the AgCenter’s natural resource extension program,” he said. “With his background and experience, he will do a great job.”

For his part, Stamper said he’s more than ready to get to work serving the needs of Louisianians statewide.

“Between wildlife field days, seminars, workshops and interagency and multi-institution collaborations, we intend to produce new programming areas for our stakeholders,” he said. “We want to create better land stewards, wildlife managers and wildlife habitat managers through research and education that will have a lasting impact on Louisiana’s natural resources.”

Lucas “Luke” Stamper was recently named state wildlife specialist. Photo provided by Luke Stamper/LSU AgCenter