LSU Approves $440,000 Preservation for Campus Mounds

The project will address erosion and deterioration at Native American mounds on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in National Parks

A broad grassy earthen mound on a flat green lawn with bare eroded patches, a low irrigation line along its base, and a lifted sidewalk edge in the foreground under warm golden light. — LSU approved a $440,000 preservation project for the campus Native American mounds, matched by a $220,000 National Park Service grant, to address erosion and drought damage. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should people be allowed to walk on the LSU campus mounds?

LSU approved a $440,000 preservation project for the campus Native American mounds, which are thousands of years old. The work is matched by a $220,000 National Park Service grant.

Why it matters

Foot traffic from students and visitors, along with drought, has accelerated deterioration of the mounds, and one mound is no longer in its original cone-like shape. The project aims to stabilize the sites and raise awareness of their historical significance for Baton Rouge residents and visitors.

The approved budget totals more than $440,000, with half coming from a $220,000 National Park Service grant that LSU matched. Construction is expected to last a couple of months once a contract is finalized, but no completion timeline has been set.

The players

Louisiana State University

LSU is the public research university in Baton Rouge that owns the campus mounds and approved the $440,000 preservation project.

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the federal agency that administers the historic preservation grant of $220,000 matched by LSU for the mound project.

The details

Planning and design are complete, and the work will address mound erosion through revegetation, a new irrigation system that waters from the bottom up, and removal of sidewalks near the structures. Tribal consultants will help ensure sidewalk removal has minimal impact on the sites.

Late 2010s: The university used temporary barriers on game days to keep people off the mounds.
Thursday, November 5, 2026: A public meeting was held on the mound restoration plans.
In the next few weeks: The project begins accepting bids from contractors.

Landscape Context

Federal preservation grants administered by the National Park Service have historically been paired with local matching funds to protect Indigenous archaeological sites on public land. The LSU project follows that model by matching a $220,000 federal grant to restore earthen mounds on a university campus in Baton Rouge.

Visitors to the LSU campus may encounter temporary restrictions as sidewalks near the mounds are removed and irrigation work begins. Avoiding walking, sliding or biking on the mound sites helps reduce the damage the project is designed to repair.

The takeaway

Protecting fragile historic sites often depends on simple visitor habits as much as on construction, so staying off the mounds is one of the most useful steps a visitor can take.

What happens next

Contractor bids are expected to be accepted in the next few weeks, after which a contract will be finalized and a couple months of construction will follow.