See also: Kisatchie National Forest. 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.
See main article: List of ecoregions in Louisiana. 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]
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 | 8,158 | 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 | 2,799 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Ben Lilly Conservation Area[4] | Morehouse | 247 | State of Louisiana; managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)[5] | |
| Big Colewa Bayou Wildlife Management Area | West Carroll | 1,798 | 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 | 35,644 | Biloxi Marsh Land Corporation | |
| Bodcau Wildlife Management Area | Bossier and Webster | 33,766 | U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and a private corporate landowner | |
| Boeuf Wildlife Management Area | Caldwell, Catahoula | 51,110 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area | Tensas | 11,121 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Catahoula Lake Wildlife Management Area | La Salle | 29440 | State of Louisiana | |
| Bussey Brake Wildlife Management Area | Morehouse | 2,600 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area (former Boise-Vernon WMA) | Vernon | 52,559 | 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 | 63,984 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LaSalle Parish School Board, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers[6] | |
| 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[7] | |
| Esler Field Wildlife Management Area | Rapides, Grant | 12,500[8] | Louisiana National Guard | |
| Floy Ward McElroy Wildlife Management Area | Richland | 681 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries[9] | |
| Fort Johnson North Wildlife Management Area (formerly Peason Ridge WMA)[10] | Sabine, Natchitoches, Vernon | 74,309 | U.S. Army | |
| Fort Johnson-Vernon Wildlife Management Area | Vernon | 105,545 | U.S. Army and U.S. Forest Service[11] | |
| 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)[12] | Catahoula Parish | 7,524 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: | |
| John Franks Wildlife Management Area | Caddo | 3,664 | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | |
| Joyce Wildlife Management Area | Tangipahoa | 42,292 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Joyce Foundation (851 acres), and Tangipahoa School Board (484 acres)[13] | |
| Lake Boeuf Wildlife Management Area | Lafourche | 800 | Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Lake Ramsay Savannah Wildlife Management Area | St. Tammany | 796 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Little River Wildlife Management Area | Grant, LaSalle, and Rapides | 6,045 | Resource Management Service, LLC and LDWF (4,164), LDWF and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (5951) | |
| Loggy Bayou Wildlife Management Area | Bossier | 6,558 | 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 | 112,615 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area | Plaquemines | 115,000 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Pearl River Wildlife Management Area | St. Tammany | 35,619 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries | |
| Peason Ridge Wildlife Management Area | Sabine, Natchitoches, and Vernon | 74,309 | 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)[14] | Concordia | 70,872 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | |
| Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area | Morehouse, Ouachita and Richland | 38,213 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries | |
| Sabine Island Wildlife Management Area | Calcasieu | 8,343 | State of Louisiana and Calcasieu Parish Schools | |
| Sabine Wildlife Management Area | Sabine | 7,571 | Forest Capital Partners, LLC, et al | |
| Salvador\/Timken Wildlife Management Area | St. Charles | 34,520 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Salvador); City Park Commission of New Orleans (Timken) | |
| Sandy Hollow Wildlife Management Area | Tangipahoa Parish | 4,655 | 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 | 43,637 | 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 Wildlife Management Area | Tangipahoa | 1,643 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Free Lease) | |
| Thistlethwaite Wildlife Management Area | St. Landry | 11,100 | Thistlethwaite Heirs | |
| Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area | West Feliciana | 6,503 | 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 | 59,189 | Hancock Timber, Roy O. Martin, Forest Investment | |
| White Lake Wetland Conservation Area[15] | Vermilion | 71,905 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries |
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]
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]
White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in Vermilion Parish
| Name | Parish or Parishes | Acres | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge | Jefferson Parish | 1,145 | State of Louisiana: Managed by the LDWF[22] |
| Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge | Terrebonne Parish Wine, Trinity/East, Whiskey, and Raccoon Islands | 1,900 | State of Louisiana[23] |
| Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge | Iberia Parish | 76,664 (now 71,000) | LDWF[24] |
| Queen Bess Island Wildlife Refuge | Jefferson | 37 | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries |
| Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge | Cameron Parish, Vermilion Parish | 71,000 | State of Louisiana[25] |
| St. Tammany Wildlife Refuge | St. Tammany Parish | 1,310 | Owned by LDWF; cooperatively managed by LDWF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service[26] |
| State Wildlife Refuge | Vermilion | 13,000 | LDWF[27] |
| Waddill Wildlife Refuge and Outdoor Education Center | East Baton Rouge Parish | 250 | LDWF[28] |