The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering 54,400 square miles (141,000 km2) of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several species of pine as well as hardwoods including hickory and oak. Historically the most dense part of this forest region was the Big Thicket though the lumber industry dramatically reduced the forest concentration in this area and throughout the Piney Woods during the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the Piney Woods to be one of the critically endangered ecoregions of the United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines most of this ecoregion as the South Central Plains.
The Big Thicket is the name given to a somewhat imprecise region of a heavily forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States. This area represents a portion of the mixed pine-hardwood forests or "Piney Woods" of the Southeast US. The National Park Service established the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) within the region in 1974 and it is recognized as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. Although the diversity of animals in the area is high for a temperate zone with over 500 vertebrates, it is the complex mosaic of ecosystems and plant diversity that is particularly remarkable. Biologists have identified at least eight, and up to eleven, ecosystems in the Big Thicket area. More than 160 species of trees and shrubs, 800 herbs and vines, and 340 types of grasses are known to occur in the Big Thicket, and estimates as high as over 1000 flowering plant species and 200 trees and shrubs have been made, plus ferns, carnivorous plants, and more. The Big Thicket has historically been the most dense forest region in Texas.
Loggy Bayou is a 17.3-mile-long (27.8 km) stream in northwestern Louisiana which connects Lake Bistineau with the Red River. Bistineau is the reservoir of Dorcheat Bayou, which flows 115 miles (185 km) southward from Nevada County, Arkansas, into Webster Parish. Loggy Bayou flows through south Bossier Parish, west of Ringgold, in a southerly direction through Bienville Parish, and into Red River Parish, where north of Coushatta it joins the Red River, a tributary of the Mississippi. At East Point, LA, the river has a mean annual discharge of 1,960 cubic feet per second.
Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a 115,000-acre (47,000 ha) protected wetland in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. The WMA is located due south and bordering the 48,000 acre Delta National Wildlife Refuge, accessible only by air or boat, contains the Pass A L'Outre Lighthouse, and Port Eads is within the boundary.
A bayhead or baygall is a specific type of wetland or swamp habitat. The name baygall is derived from sweetbay magnolia and sweet gallberry holly. Baygalls are recognized as a discrete ecosystem by ecologists and the swamps have been described as "distinct wetland communities in the Natural Communities of Louisiana". Baygall swamps are most often found in the low lying margins of floodplains and bottomlands with little or poor drainage to the main creek, bayou, or river channel. Baygall or bayhead swamps found on slopes and hillsides are sometimes referred to as a forest seep or hanging bogs. Hanging bogs are typically found in hardwood-pine forests. Most baygall swamps are semi-permanently saturated, or flooded.
Attakapas Wildlife Management Area, also known as Attakapas Island Wildlife Management Area, is a 27,962-acre tract of protected area located in St. Mary, St. Martin, and Iberia Parishes, Louisiana. The property was acquired in 1976 and is under the authority of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). The LDWF has 25,730 acres and the USACOE has 2,200 acres.
Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area is a 52,559-acre (21,270 ha) tract of protected area located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) leases the land from Hancock Timber.
Dewey W. Wills Wildlife Management Area, also just called Dewey Wills Wildlife Management Area and formally known as the Saline Wildlife Management area, is a 63,984-acre (25,893 ha) tract of protected area located in LaSalle Parish, Catahoula Parish, and Rapides Parish, in Central Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) owns 63,901 acres, the LaSalle Parish School Board owns 1530 acres, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USCOE) owns 265 acres, managed by the LDWF.
Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area is a 112,615-acre (45,574 ha) tract of protected area located in parts of Ascension, Livingston, St. John the Baptist, St. James and Tangipahoa Parishes, Louisiana, encircling three sides of Lake Maurepas.
Fort Johnson North Wildlife Management Area, known locally as Peason Ridge WMA, is a 74,309-acre tract of protected area located in the Parishes of Natchitoches, Sabine, and Vernon, in the state of Louisiana. The WMA is managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
Pearl River Wildlife Management Area, also known as Pearl River WMA, is a 35,619 acres (14,414 ha) tract of protected area near Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. The WMA is managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)
Salvador Wildlife Management Area is a protected area in St. Charles Parish Louisiana covering a combined total of over 36,000 acres (15,000 ha). The WMA is located 11 miles (18 km) south of New Orleans, Louisiana, and provides habitat for many species of animal and plant life with hunting, fishing, and boating as the predominant activities. Commercial fishing or harvesting is not allowed.
Joyce Wildlife Management Area is a 42,292 acres (17,115 ha) protected area in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, owned by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. It is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Hammond and features a boardwalk leading into the swamps on the northwest corner.
Big Lake Wildlife Management Area, (WMA) also referred to as Big Lake State WMA, is a 19,231 acres (7,783 ha) tract of protected land located in Franklin, Tensas, and Madison Parish, Louisiana, owned and managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
Grassy Lake Wildlife Management Area, also referred to as Grassy Lake WMA, is a 12,983 acres (5,254 ha) protected area located in northern Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, with limited land access and water access from the Red River.
Pomme de Terre Wildlife Management Area, also referred to as Pomme de Terre WMA, is a 6,434 acres (2,604 ha) protected area located in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, owned and managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area is a 7,524-acre (3,045 ha) wildlife management area in Catahoula, Parish, Louisiana, owned by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) miles west of Sicily Island. The area contains the 17 ft (5.2 m) high Rock Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the state.
Acadiana Conservation Corridor is a 2,285 acres (925 ha) wildlife corridor owned and managed as a wildlife management area by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
Esler Field Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a 12,500 acres (5,100 ha) protected area in parts of Rapides and Grant parishes in the state of Louisiana.
