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.

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]

Name Parish or Parishes Acres Owner
Acadiana Conservation Corridor Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles, Evangeline, Rapides, St. Landry 2,285 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries[3]
Alexander State Forest Rapides 7,955 State of Louisiana
Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area St. Mary 137,695 U.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. Mary 27,962 State of Louisiana, United States Army Corps of Engineers
Bayou Macon Wildlife Management Area East Carroll 6,919 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Bayou Pierre Wildlife Management Area DeSoto, Red River 2,212 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Ben Lilly Conservation Area Morehouse 247 State of Louisiana; managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)[4]
Big Colewa Bayou Wildlife Management Area West Carroll 899 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Big Lake Wildlife Management Area Franklin, Madison, Tensas 19,231 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Biloxi Wildlife Management Area St. Bernard 42,747 Biloxi Marsh Land Corporation
Bodcau Wildlife Management Area Bossier and Webster 34,355 U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and a private corporate landowner
Boeuf Wildlife Management Area Caldwell, Catahoula 50,971 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area Tensas 11,262 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Catahoula Lake Wildlife Management Area La Salle 29440 State of Louisiana
Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area (former Boise-Vernon WMA) Vernon 50,000 Boise 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, Rapides 63,901 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LaSalle Parish School Board, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers[5]
Elbow Slough Wildlife Management Area Rapides 160 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Elm Hall Wildlife Management Area Assumption 2,839 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries[6]
Esler Field Wildlife Management Area Rapides, Grant 12,500[7] Louisiana National Guard
Floy Ward McElroy Wildlife Management Area Richland 681 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries[8]
Fort Johnson-Vernon Wildlife Management Area Vernon 105,545[7] U.S. Army and U.S. Forest Service[9]
Grassy Lake Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles Parish 12,983 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Hutchinson Creek Wildlife Management Area St. Helena 129 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area (former Sicily Island Hills WMA)[10] Catahoula Parish 7,524 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries:
Joyce Wildlife Management Area Tangipahoa 27,487 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Joyce Foundation (851 acres), and Tangipahoa School Board (484 acres)[11]
Lake Boeuf Wildlife Management Area Lafourche 800 Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Lake Ramsey Savannah Wildlife Management Area St. Tammany 796 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Little River Wildlife Management Area Grant, LaSalle, and Rapides 10115 Resource Management Service, LLC and LDWF (4,164), LDWF and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (5951)
Loggy Bayou Wildlife Management Area Bossier 6,381 Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Manchac Wildlife Management Area St. John the Baptist 8,328 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Marsh Bayou Wildlife Management Area Evangeline 655 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area Ascension, Livingston, St. John the Baptist, St. James and Tangipahoa 122,098 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Ouachita Wildlife Management Area (See Russell Sage WMA below)
Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area Plaquemines 115,000 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pearl River Wildlife Management Area St. Tammany 35,618 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Peason Ridge Wildlife Management Area Sabine, Natchitoches, and Vernon 74,309 (expanded: 2016) U.S. Army, U.S. Forest Service
Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area Terrebonne and Lafourche 33,488 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pomme de Terre Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles 6,434 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (former Red River/Three Rivers WMA)[12] Concordia 69,806 Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area Morehouse, Ouachita and Richland 34,845 Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Sabine Island Wildlife Management Area Calcasieu 8,743 State of Louisiana and Calcasieu Parish Schools
Sabine Wildlife Management Area Sabine 7,554 Forest Capital Partners, LLC, et al
Salvador Wildlife Management Area; Managed jointly with Timken WMA St. Charles 30,000 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Sandy Hollow Wildlife Management Area Tangipahoa Parish 4,177 Department 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 44,000 LDWF, USFWS, and USACOE
Soda Lake Wildlife Management Area Caddo 2,500 Caddo Levee District, USACOE
Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area Avoyelles 12,506 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Tangipahoa Parish School Board Tangipahoa 1,643 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Free Lease)
Thistlethwaite Wildlife Management Area St. Landry 11,100 Thistlethwaite Heirs
Timken Wildlife Management Area; Managed jointly with Salvador WMA (See above) St. Charles 34,520 City Park Commission of New Orleans
Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area West Feliciana 5,906 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Walnut Hill Wildlife Management Area Vernon 595 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
West Bay Wildlife Management Area Allen 58,212 Hancock Timber, Roy O. Martin, Forest Investment

Former WMA

The LDWF free-lease on the more than 25,000-acre Jackson - Bienville Wildlife Management Area (a WMA since 1961)[13] was not renewed as of July 1, 2016,[14] 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.

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.[15] 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.[16]

Conservation areas

White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in Vermilion Parish

Wildlife refuges

Name Parish or Parishes Acres Owner
Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge Jefferson Parish 1,145 State of Louisiana: Managed by the LDWF[17]
Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge Terrebonne Parish: Wine, Trinity/East, Whiskey, and Raccoon Islands 1,900 State of Louisiana[18]
Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge Iberia Parish 76,664 (now 71,000) LDWF[19]
Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Cameron Parish, Vermilion Parish 71,000 State of Louisiana[20]
St. Tammany Wildlife Refuge St. Tammany Parish 1,310 Owned by LDWF; cooperatively managed by LDWF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service[21]
State Wildlife Refuge Vermilion 13,000 LDWF[22]
Waddill Wildlife Refuge and Outdoor Education Center East Baton Rouge Parish 237 acres LDWF[23]

References

  1. ^ Land Development & Management: Ecoregions- Retrieved 2017-02-08
  2. ^ Louisiana WMAs- Retrieved 2017-02-07
  3. ^ Bayoubucks.com: Acadiana Conservation Corridor WMF- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  4. ^ LDWF:Ben Lilly Conservation Area
  5. ^ Louisiana Sportsman: Dewey Wills WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  6. ^ Elm Hall WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  7. ^ a b Yoshonis, Scott (2023-06-28). "LDWF renames wildlife management areas to reflect removal of military references to Confederacy". KLFY. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  8. ^ Floy Ward McElroy WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  9. ^ Fort Polk WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-06
  10. ^ Louisiana Sportsman- Retrieved 2018-05-15
  11. ^ LDWF- Retrieved 2017-11-30
  12. ^ Richard K Yancey: Former Red River/Three Rivers WMA- Retrieved 2017-03-04
  13. ^ Jackson - Bienville WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-19
  14. ^ Jackson - Bienville removed from WMA participation- Retrieved 2017-02-19
  15. ^ Georgia Pacific property removed as a WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-21
  16. ^ The Pineywoods.com: Lawsuit over Georgia Pacific WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-21
  17. ^ Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  18. ^ Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  19. ^ Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  20. ^ Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  21. ^ St. Tammany Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  22. ^ State Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
  23. ^ Waddill Wildlife Refuge- Retrieved 2017-07-14
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