The work should be finished in mid-1981. He stressed that caution will be used when considering the extent of development. Any development must not have a deleterious impact on the brake's ecosystem, he said. Coochie Brake is considered a hardwood bottomland, said John Weist, a state naturalist who credited Winn Parish historian Eck Bozeman for much of the information he obtained. When Fault Line Buckled It is believed the brake was formed when a fault line, running near the area, buckled, he said, resulting in a huge depression which resulted in a swamp.
Water is retained in the brake by a beaver dam on the south side.
Weist said the state is negotiating with Olin Mills Paper Co. for the land where the beaver dam is located. The dam is crucial to retaining water in the brake, Weist said. When the fault line erupted, a large deposit of granite and sandstone was exposed on the north side. Weist said local legends hold that the Spanish used the massive stone hill as a fortification and to cache deposits of gold brought from Texas. That's bordering on myth.