How much does it cost to clear out an acre of land in Louisiana?

National cost guides put a single acre at roughly $1,200 to $8,000. A second guide narrows that to $1,397 to $6,174 an acre. Light brush sits near the bottom and heavy woods near the top. Those guides do not break Louisiana out on its own, so treat them as national numbers.

How much does it cost to clear a half acre of land?

One national cost guide puts a half acre at $1,000 to $5,000. Another gives $250 to $2,800 where the growth is lighter. The spread is wide because a half acre of grass is nothing like a half acre of timber. A small lot with no room to turn a truck also slows the work down.

Is a land clearing cost calculator accurate?

It is a starting point. A calculator cannot see the stumps, the wet spots or how far the truck has to haul. On Louisiana clay it also cannot see the time of year, which changes how fast the ground works. Use it to set a range, then get a real look at the site.

Is burning the brush allowed in Louisiana?

The state rule starts from a ban on outdoor burning, then carves out exceptions. One covers land clearing, with conditions on wind, a 1,000 foot setback from other dwellings and a daytime window. Parish officials and the State Fire Marshal can put a burn ban in place on top of that. We haul debris off or stack it where you want it, and the decision stays with the landowner.

Does pulling the stumps cost extra?

Usually, and cost guides list stump work at about $100 to $400 each. One puts extra stumps at $40 to $83 after the first, since the machine is already on site. We dig stumps and root balls out with the excavator while we clear, then backfill and pack the hole. Roots left in the ground are what make a lot settle later.

Is this what Dupree's Dirt and Excavation charges?

No. Every number on this page comes from published cost guides and Louisiana sources, not from our price list. We price a job after we look at the tract, because density, stumps, access and haul distance decide it. Call (318) 614-2073 for a free estimate on clearing your lot or acreage .

How much does land clearing cost per acre in Louisiana?

Q: Do you need a permit to clear land in Louisiana?

It depends on the acreage and the ground. LDEQ's small construction stormwater permit starts at 1 acre of disturbance and runs to under 5 acres. It asks for a plan, a posted notice and a completion report, with no fee. At 5 acres a Notice of Intent and annual fees kick in. If the tract holds wetlands, the Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District handles Section 404.

National cost guides put land clearing at roughly $1,200 to $8,000 an acre. Light brush along a pasture edge sits near the bottom. Heavy bottomland hardwood sits near the top. Those are published market numbers, not our price list.

Two things move a job across that range. The first is what is standing on the ground. The second is what happens to the debris. Hauling it off costs money that leaving it in place does not.

How much does it cost to clear out an acre of land?

One national cost guide puts the average at $1,200 to $8,000 an acre. A second gives $1,397 to $6,174, with an average job of $3,779. A third puts the typical range at $1,266 to $3,900. Most single acre jobs run a few thousand dollars.

Clearing job	Cost per acre in national guides	What is standing there
Light	$1,200 to $2,500	Grass, vines, brush and small trees
Moderate	$2,500 to $4,500	Heavier underbrush and medium trees
Heavy	$4,500 to $8,000	Thick woods and large trees

The first guide puts a quarter acre at $800 to $3,000 and a half acre at $1,000 to $5,000. Five acres runs $4,500 to $35,000. Cost per acre drops as the tract gets bigger, because the machines get hauled in once. What land clearing runs on your place comes down to a look at the ground.

Why does the price per acre swing so much?

Density is the biggest lever. One guide gives $733 to $2,333 an acre for lightly forested ground. Heavily forested runs $3,395 to $6,155. Same size tract, very different bill.

Stumps are next. Cost guides list stump work at roughly $100 to $400 each. Extra stumps run $40 to $83 after the first. We dig stumps and root balls out with the excavator as part of clearing. The hole gets backfilled.

Debris is the third lever. One guide lists waste removal at $130 to $370, and a 20 yard dumpster at $275 to $700. Machine time gets quoted by the hour too, and most set an eight hour minimum. One guide says $110 to $250 an hour, another $100 to $300.

What does Louisiana ground do to the price?

Water, mostly. The NRCS rates Perry clay poorly drained with very slow permeability, and it is the largest soil in Morehouse Parish. Hebert silt loam on the old natural levees is not much better. Its water table sits 1.5 to 3 feet down from December through April. Wet ground slows every machine on it.

Bastrop averages 58.39 inches of rain a year in the NOAA normals. April is wettest, September driest. August into October is when heavy clay works best. A winter job on bottomland clay takes longer, and hours are what you pay for.

What grows here matters too. The NRCS lists loblolly pine as the main commercial tree on the piney hills west of us. Backswamp ground carries ash, cottonwood, sweetgum and several oaks. Big hardwood is slower to cut than pine. The LSU AgCenter calls Chinese tallow one of the worst invasive trees in Louisiana. It sprouts back from breaks in its lateral roots, so pushing it over does not end it.

Do you need a permit to clear land in Louisiana?

Sometimes, and the acre is the line. Disturbing 1 acre or more but under 5 acres falls under LDEQ’s small construction stormwater permit. It asks for a stormwater plan, a posted notice and a completion report, with no fee. At 5 acres and up, a Notice of Intent and annual fees apply. Under an acre, neither applies unless the tract is part of a larger plan.

Wet ground is the other question. If clearing means putting fill in a wetland or a slough, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act comes in. The Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District covers this part of Louisiana. The federal fee is small, at $10 for a noncommercial permit and $100 for a commercial one. The wait and the redesign are the real cost, and the Corps decides what is jurisdictional. Farm program participants should check with NRCS before clearing or draining wet ground.

Can you sell the timber before the clearing starts?

Sometimes, and it is worth asking first. If a tract carries merchantable pine or oak, a logger or a consulting forester may buy it first.

The LSU AgCenter’s Q4 2025 Louisiana stumpage report gives the statewide averages. Pine sawtimber ran $23.70 a ton and oak sawtimber $41.70. Pine pulpwood was $4.43, down 27 percent on the year. Good sawtimber can be worth selling, but brush and small stems will not pay for the clearing.

One local note. Pellet plants near Bastrop give northeast Louisiana landowners some outlet for pulpwood, even at these prices. The AgCenter warns that value differs by parish, species and quality, so start with a consulting forester.

What is the least expensive way to clear land?

Mulching in place wins on paper. Cost guides put forestry mulching at $400 to $1,500 an acre, another at $500 to $1,000 and up. Nothing gets hauled off, so the biggest line item disappears. The catch is that stumps and roots stay put. One guide says plainly that mulching does not suit building sites. It fits trails, fire lanes and pasture upkeep instead. That is not the method we run.

Dozer clearing is the other common method in the market. A dozer pushes the growth into piles, and the piles get burned or hauled. It moves fast, and it moves a lot of topsoil with it. Our method is the excavator, where a thumb and a grapple pull the stem and root ball out together.

Burning is where people think they will save, but the Louisiana rule is tight. State regulation makes outdoor burning prohibited by default, with narrow exceptions. The land clearing exception calls for winds blowing away from any city or town. It sets a 1,000 foot setback from other dwellings and a window of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parish officials and the State Fire Marshal can declare burn bans on top of that. We haul debris off or stack it where you want it, and that call stays with the landowner.

Two things actually save money here. Clear only the ground you need, because one guide notes selective clearing cuts the debris bill. Then work dry ground in late summer or early fall.

How long does it take to clear 1 acre of wooded land?

One national guide says a professional team clears an acre in two to twelve hours. Another says a small lot with light growth takes one to three days. Heavily wooded tracts of several acres can run into weeks.

Both are right, and neither has seen your ground. Wet clay, big stumps and a long haul to the road all add hours. Around Bastrop the weather is usually the tiebreaker.

Getting a real number for your own place

A land clearing cost calculator is guessing at density, stumps, access and haul distance. We look at the tract and price the work off what is standing there. The estimate is free.

Clearing is usually the first step and not the last. Once the growth is off, the ground still needs grading the cleared lot before sod, seed or a slab. A new house will need a dirt pad built up on top of that. Here is how we clear a lot or a tract, and the number is (318) 614-2073.