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Wildlife Management Areas, Refuges, and Conservation Areas

All visitors must have a WMA Access Permit, Senior Hunting/Fishing License, Louisiana Sportsman's Paradise License, or a Lifetime Hunting/Fishing License to visit an LDWF WMA, Refuge, or Conservation Area, including Shooting Ranges, for any reason—boating, hiking, bird watching, berry picking, fishing, hunting, shooting, etc. The WMA Access Permit only covers access onto the property—it does NOT convey hunting or fishing privileges. Beginning July 1, 2022, all visitors must also comply with self-clearing permit guidelines.
All visitors must also comply with self-clearing permit guidelines.

 

LDWF maintains more than 1.6 million acres of Louisiana’s land and waterways as wildlife management areas, refuges, and conservation areas. With a variety of habitats including upland pine-hardwood, cypress tupelo, pine savanna, bottomland hardwood, and brackish marsh, these areas are home to every game animal and freshwater and saltwater fish within the state, as well as rare plant communities and habitat types and important species such as the Louisiana black bear, red-cockaded woodpecker, and gopher tortoise.

LDWF manages these areas not only to conserve the state’s wildlife and fisheries resources and their habitat but also to provide the public with an array of outdoor recreational opportunities, from hunting, including lottery hunts, and fishing to canoeing, hiking, ATV riding, and birding. We encourage all Louisiana’s citizens and visitors to get out and enjoy these resources and opportunities. Note that licenses and permits are required for many activities on Louisiana’s public lands. See profiles of individual public lands below and current regulations for more information. 

Wildlife Management Areas

WMA Parish(es) 
Acadiana Conservation Corridor Avoyelles, Evangeline, Rapides, St. Landry
Alexander State Forest Rapides
Atchafalaya Delta St. Mary
Attakapas Island Iberia, St. Martin, St. Mary
Bayou Macon East Carroll
Bayou Pierre DeSoto, Red River
Big Colewa Bayou Morehouse
Big Lake Franklin, Madison, Tensas
Biloxi St. Bernard
Bodcau Bossier, Webster
Boeuf Caldwell, Catahoula
Buckhorn Tensas
Bussey Brake Morehouse
Clear Creek Vernon
Dewey W. Wills Catahoula, LaSalle
Elbow Slough Rapides
Elm Hall Assumption
Esler Field Grant, Rapides
Floy Ward McElroy Richland
Fort Johnson North Natchitoches, Sabine, Vernon
Fort Johnson-Vernon Vernon
Grassy Lake Avoyelles
Hutchinson Creek St. Helena
J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert Catahoula
John Franks Caddo
Joyce Tangipahoa
Lake Boeuf Lafourche
Lake Ramsay St. Tammany
Little River Grant
Loggy Bayou Bienville, Bossier
Manchac St. John the Baptist
Marsh Bayou Evangeline
Maurepas Swamp Ascension, Livingston, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa
Pass-a-Loutre Plaquemines
Pearl River St. Tammany
Pointe-aux-Chenes Lafourche, Terrebonne
Pomme de Terre Avoyelles
Richard K. Yancey Concordia
Russell Sage Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland
Sabine Island Calcasieu
Sabine Sabine
Salvador/Timken St. Charles
Sandy Hollow Tangipahoa
Sherburne Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Martin
Soda Lake Caddo
Spring Bayou Avoyelles
Tangipahoa Parish School Board Tangipahoa
Thistlethwaite St. Landry
Tunica Hills West Feliciana
Walnut Hill Vernon 
West Bay  Allen

Refuges

Conservation Areas

 

Management

Forest Management

LDWF is responsible for the rehabilitation and stewardship of the forest resources and associated wildlife habitat on LDWF-owned WMAs. LDWF manages timber to improve wildlife habitat, maintain habitat diversity within WMAs, provide recreational opportunities for various users, and grow high quality, healthy forests.

To accomplish these tasks, staff evaluate current habitat conditions for each LDWF-owned WMA. They measure and classify trees, evaluate how sunlight penetrates the over-, mid-, and understory vegetation, determine the forest type, and sample understory and ground vegetation. They use all of this information to develop forest management plans, or prescriptions, for each WMA to insure forested habitat is properly managed. Forestry management prescriptions propose methods to improve and maintain wildlife habitat while providing quality recreational opportunities and growing healthy timber resources for the long-term. Methods typically include timber harvesting, reforestation, research, and monitoring.

Each prescription includes a description of the area to be addressed within each WMA, the current condition of each forest type found within the area, the soil types and hydrology of the area, and wildlife habitat conditions. Prescriptions also include management objectives and concerns, as well as how these concerns will be addressed to enhance or sustain the forest and wildlife habitat.

 

Master Plan

LDWF has developed a master plan to guide the conservation of the state’s public lands, with respect to managing the current network of lands and highlighting opportunities to enhance this network in the future.