List of Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas

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List of Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas
Wildlife Management Areas, Widlife Refuges, and Conservation Areas in Louisiana'"`UNIQ--ref-00000005-QINU`"'

Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas are protected conservation areas within the state of Louisiana. The goal is protecting, conserving, and replenishing wildlife, including all aquatic life. Wildlife Management Areas may be owned or managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The Enforcement Division ensures compliance of laws and rules and regulations regarding the management, conservation, protection of natural wildlife and fisheries resources, and providing public safety.

Contents

Ecoregions

Louisiana is divided into areas called ecoregions, West Gulf Coast Plain (WGCP) with 370,861 acres, East Gulf Coast Plain (EGCP) with 198,377 acres, Mississippi Alluvial Valley - North (MAVN) with 128,736 acres, and the Mississippi Alluvial Valley - South (MAVS) with 257,999 acres. [1]

Wildlife Management Areas

Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas: [2]

NameParish or ParishesAcresOwner
Acadiana Conservation Corridor Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles, Evangeline, Rapides, St. Landry 2,285Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries [3]
Alexander State Forest Rapides 8,158State of Louisiana
Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area St. Mary 137,695U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), LDWF, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE)
Attakapas Wildlife Management Area Iberia Parish, St. Martin, St. Mary27,962State of Louisiana, United States Army Corps of Engineers
Bayou Macon Wildlife Management Area East Carroll 6,919Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Bayou Pierre Wildlife Management Area DeSoto, Red River 2,799Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Ben Lilly Conservation Area [4] Morehouse 247State of Louisiana; managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) [5]
Big Colewa Bayou Wildlife Management Area West Carroll 1,798Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Big Lake Wildlife Management Area Franklin, Madison, Tensas 19,231Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Biloxi Wildlife Management Area St. Bernard 35,644Biloxi Marsh Land Corporation
Bodcau Wildlife Management Area Bossier and Webster 33,766U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and a private corporate landowner
Boeuf Wildlife Management Area Caldwell, Catahoula 51,110Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area Tensas Parish 11,121Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Catahoula Lake Wildlife Management Area La Salle 29440State of Louisiana
Bussey Brake Wildlife Management AreaMorehouse2,600Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area (former Boise-Vernon WMA) Vernon 52,559Boise Cascade sold to Forest Capital Partners, LLC., then sold to Molpus Woodlands Group and The Hancock Timber Resource Group
Dewey W. Wills Wildlife Management Area (former Saline WMA)Catahoula, LaSalle, Rapides63,984Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LaSalle Parish School Board, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [6]
Elbow Slough Wildlife Management AreaRapides160Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Elm Hall Wildlife Management Area Assumption 2,839Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries [7]
Esler Field Wildlife Management Area Rapides, Grant 12,500 [8] Louisiana National Guard
Floy Ward McElroy Wildlife Management Area Richland 681Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries [9]
Fort Johnson North Wildlife Management Area (formerly Peason Ridge WMA) [10] Sabine and Natchitoches 74,309U.S. Army
Fort Johnson-Vernon Wildlife Management Area Vernon Parish105,545 [8] U.S. Army and U.S. Forest Service [11]
Grassy Lake Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles Parish12,983Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Hutchinson Creek Wildlife Management Area St. Helena 129Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area (former Sicily Island Hills WMA) [12] Catahoula Parish7,524Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries:
John Franks Wildlife Management AreaCaddo3,664U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Joyce Wildlife Management Area Tangipahoa 42,292Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Joyce Foundation (851 acres), and Tangipahoa School Board (484 acres) [13]
Lake Boeuf Wildlife Management Area Lafourche 800Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Lake Ramsay Savannah Wildlife Management Area St. Tammany 796Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Little River Wildlife Management AreaGrant, LaSalle, and Rapides6,045Resource Management Service, LLC and LDWF (4,164), LDWF and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (5951)
Loggy Bayou Wildlife Management Area Bossier6,558Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Manchac Wildlife Management Area St. John the Baptist 8,328Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Marsh Bayou Wildlife Management AreaEvangeline655Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area Ascension, Livingston, St. John the Baptist, St. James and Tangipahoa112,615Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area Plaquemines 115,000Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pearl River Wildlife Management Area St. Tammany35,619Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Peason Ridge Wildlife Management Area See: Fort Johnson North Wildlife Management
Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area Terrebonne and Lafourche33,488Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pomme de Terre Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles6,434Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (former Red River/Three Rivers WMA) [14] Concordia 70,872Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area Morehouse, Ouachita and Richland 38,213Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Sabine Island Wildlife Management Area Calcasieu 8,343State of Louisiana and Calcasieu Parish Schools
Sabine Wildlife Management Area Sabine 7,571Forest Capital Partners, LLC, et al
Salvador\/Timken Wildlife Management Area St. Charles 34,520Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Salvador); City Park Commission of New Orleans (Timken)
Sandy Hollow Wildlife Management AreaTangipahoa Parish4,655Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (3,514 acres) and Tangipahoa Parish School Board (181 acres)
Sherburne Complex Wildlife Management Area Pointe Coupee, St. Martin, and Iberville 43,637LDWF, USFWS, and USACOE
Soda Lake Wildlife Management Area Caddo 2,500Caddo Levee District, USACOE
Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles12,506Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Tangipahoa Parish School Board Wildlife Management AreaTangipahoa1,643Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Free Lease)
Thistlethwaite Wildlife Management Area St. Landry11,100Thistlethwaite Heirs
Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area West Feliciana 6,503Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Walnut Hill Wildlife Management AreaVernon595Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
West Bay Wildlife Management Area Allen 59,189Hancock Timber, Roy O. Martin, Forest Investment
White Lake Wetland Conservation Area [15] Vermilion71,905Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Former WMA

The LDWF free-lease on the more than 25,000-acre Jackson - Bienville Wildlife Management Area (a WMA since 1961) [16] was not renewed as of July 1, 2016, [17] as an agreement with the Weyerhaeuser Company could not be reached. Nesting areas of the Red-cockaded woodpeckers are still subject to protection by the State of Louisiana and the LDWF under current laws and rules and regulations. [18]

Ben's Creek Wildlife Management Area in Washington Parish, with 13,044-acres (since 1987), was removed as a free-lease so the public can no longer use the property. [19]

Georgia Pacific WMA

A 25,480-acre tract of land, bordered on the west by the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the LDWF under a twenty-five year lease with tax exemptions that started in 1994, was removed as a WMA in 2003. [20] The property, previously known as Terzia Game Preserve, under cooperative agreements with the state of Louisiana since 1935, was renamed Georgia Pacific WMA in 1966. Georgia Pacific Corporation transferred the property to a subsidy, The Timber Company, and the property was acquired by Plum Creek Timber Company during a 2001 merger. A local attorney brought a lawsuit in 2002 challenging the legality of a 1987 Legislative act (LSA-R.S. 56:24), that exempted local and state property taxes on corporate forest lands leased to the State for hunting by the public, that allegedly conflicts with Section 21 of Article 7 of the Louisiana Constitution. The lawsuit will likely have far reaching implications on land made available to the public that includes over 400,000 acres in Louisiana. With the potential loss of tax exemptions more property owners will likely not renew leases and many will opt to self-manage property pursuing other uses like leasing to hunting clubs, that have become a lucrative deal. [21]

Conservation areas

White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in Vermilion Parish

Wildlife refuges

NameParish or ParishesAcresOwner
Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge Jefferson Parish 1,145State of Louisiana: Managed by the LDWF [22]
Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge Terrebonne Parish: Wine, Trinity/East, Whiskey, and Raccoon Islands1,900State of Louisiana [23]
Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge Iberia Parish 76,664 (now 71,000)LDWF [24]
Queen Bess Island Wildlife RefugeJefferson37Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Cameron Parish, Vermilion Parish 71,000State of Louisiana [25]
St. Tammany Wildlife Refuge St. Tammany Parish 1,310Owned by LDWF; cooperatively managed by LDWF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [26]
State Wildlife RefugeVermilion13,000LDWF [27]
Waddill Wildlife Refuge and Outdoor Education Center East Baton Rouge Parish 250LDWF [28]

References

  1. ↑ Land Development & Management: Ecoregions- Retrieved 2017-02-08
  2. ↑ Louisiana WMAs- Retrieved 2024-04-17
  3. ↑ Bayoubucks.com: Acadiana Conservation Corridor WMF- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  4. ↑ Ben Lilly Conservation Area Retrieved 2024-05-26
  5. ↑ LDWF:Ben Lilly Conservation Area
  6. ↑ Louisiana Sportsman: Dewey Wills WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  7. ↑ Elm Hall WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  8. 1 2 Yoshonis, Scott (June 28, 2023). "LDWF renames wildlife management areas to reflect removal of military references to Confederacy". KLFY. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  9. ↑ Floy Ward McElroy WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  10. ↑ Iles, Trey. "U.S. Army and LDWF Announce Peason Ridge WMA Renamed Fort Johnson North WMA | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries". Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries . Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  11. ↑ Fort Polk WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  12. ↑ Louisiana Sportsman- Retrieved 2018-05-15
  13. ↑ LDWF- Retrieved 2017-11-30
  14. ↑ Richard K Yancey: Former Red River/Three Rivers WMA- Retrieved 2017-03-04
  15. ↑ White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area Retrieved 2024-05-26
  16. ↑ Jackson - Bienville WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-19
  17. ↑ Jackson - Bienville removed from WMA participation- Retrieved 2017-02-19
  18. ↑ title-Jackson Bienville closure is disappointing. Author- Andy Crawford/date- July 1-2016/Retrieved 2024-07-07
  19. ↑ title-Ben’s Creek WMA dropping from system. Date- May 21, 2012/Retrieved 2024-07-07
  20. ↑ Georgia Pacific property removed as a WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-21
  21. ↑ The Pineywoods.com: Lawsuit over Georgia Pacific WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-21
  22. ↑ Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  23. ↑ Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  24. ↑ Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  25. ↑ Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  26. ↑ St. Tammany Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  27. ↑ State Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  28. ↑ Waddill Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
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