La. Stat. tit. 41 § 132
On receipt of any application to purchase land so subject to sale, accompanied with the required deposit, the register of the state land office, or the president of the levee board, may require the parish surveyor of the parish wherein the lands are situated to furnish full information as to the character of the timber on the land, the quantity and kind thereof, or any other information affecting the value of the land. The register or the president, as the case may be, may also consult the assessment roll as to the assessment of lands of like character adjacent to the lands for which application is made and he may call in the services of timber experts in order to obtain reliable means of arriving at the fair value of the lands. The information so obtained shall be placed of record in his office and shall constitute a part of the permanent archives of his office.
La. R.S. § 41:132