List of Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas


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 with 370,861 acres, East Gulf Coast Plain with 198,377 acres, Mississippi Alluvial Valley - North with 128,736 acres, and the Mississippi Alluvial Valley - South with 257,999 acres.

Wildlife Management Areas

Louisiana Wildlife Management Areas:
NameParish or ParishesAcresOwner
Acadiana Conservation Corridor Wildlife Management AreaAvoyelles, Evangeline, Rapides, St. Landry2,285Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Alexander State ForestRapides7,955State of Louisiana
Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management AreaSt. Mary137,695U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, LDWF, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Attakapas Wildlife Management AreaIberia Parish, St. Martin, St. Mary27,962State of Louisiana, United States Army Corps of Engineers
Bayou Macon Wildlife Management AreaEast Carroll6,919Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Bayou Pierre Wildlife Management AreaDeSoto, Red River2,212Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Ben Lilly Conservation AreaMorehouse247State of Louisiana; managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Big Colewa Bayou Wildlife Management AreaWest Carroll899Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Big Lake Wildlife Management AreaFranklin, Madison, Tensas19,231Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Biloxi Wildlife Management AreaSt. Bernard42,747Biloxi Marsh Land Corporation
Bodcau Wildlife Management AreaBossier and Webster34,355U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and a private corporate landowner
Boeuf Wildlife Management AreaCaldwell, Catahoula50,971Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Buckhorn Wildlife Management AreaTensas11,262Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Camp Beauregard Wildlife Management AreaRapides, Grant12,500Louisiana National Guard
Catahoula Lake Wildlife Management AreaLa Salle29440State of Louisiana
Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area Vernon50,000Boise 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 Catahoula, LaSalle, Rapides63,901Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LaSalle Parish School Board, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Elbow Slough Wildlife Management AreaRapides160Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Elm Hall Wildlife Management AreaAssumption2,839Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Floy Ward McElroy Wildlife Management AreaRichland681Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Fort Polk Wildlife Management AreaVernon105,545U.S. Army and U.S. Forest Service
Grassy Lake Wildlife Management AreaAvoyelles Parish12,983Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Hutchinson Creek Wildlife Management AreaSt. Helena129Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area Catahoula Parish7,524Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries:
Joyce Wildlife Management AreaTangipahoa27,487Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Joyce Foundation, and Tangipahoa School Board
Lake Boeuf Wildlife Management AreaLafourche800Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Lake Ramsey Savannah Wildlife Management AreaSt. Tammany796Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Little River Wildlife Management AreaGrant, LaSalle, and Rapides10115Resource Management Service, LLC and LDWF, LDWF and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Loggy Bayou Wildlife Management AreaBossier6,381Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Manchac Wildlife Management AreaSt. John the Baptist8,328Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Marsh Bayou Wildlife Management AreaEvangeline655Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management AreaAscension, Livingston, St. John the Baptist, St. James and Tangipahoa122,098Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Ouachita Wildlife Management Area ---
Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management AreaPlaquemines115,000Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pearl River Wildlife Management AreaSt. Tammany35,618Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Peason Ridge Wildlife Management AreaSabine, Natchitoches, and Vernon74,309 U.S. Army, U.S. Forest Service
Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management AreaTerrebonne and Lafourche33,488Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Pomme de Terre Wildlife Management AreaAvoyelles6,434Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area Concordia69,806Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Russell Sage Wildlife Management AreaMorehouse, Quachita and Richland34,845Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Sabine Island Wildlife Management AreaCalcasieu8,743State of Louisiana and Calcasieu Parish Schools
Sabine Wildlife Management AreaSabine7,554Forest Capital Patners, LLC, etal
Salvador Wildlife Management Area; Managed jointly with Timken WMASt. Charles30,000Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Sandy Hollow Wildlife Management AreaTangipahoa Parish4,177Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Tangipahoa Parish School Board
Sherburne Complex Wildlife Management AreaPointe Coupee, St. Martin, and Iberville44,000LDWF, USFWS, and USACOE
Soda Lake Wildlife Management AreaCaddo2,500Caddo Levee District, USACOE
Spring Bayou Wildlife Management AreaAvoyelles12,506Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Tangipahoa Parish School BoardTangipahoa1,643Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Thistlethwaite Wildlife Management AreaSt. Landry11,100Thistlethwaite Heirs
Timken Wildlife Management Area; Managed jointly with Salvador WMA St. Charles34,520City Park Commission of New Orleans
Tunica Hills Wildlife Management AreaWest Feliciana5,906Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Walnut Hill Wildlife Management AreaVernon595Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
West Bay Wildlife Management AreaAllen58,212Hancock Timber, Roy O. Martin, Forest Investment

Former WMA

The LDWF free-lease on the more than 25,000 acre Jackson - Bienville Wildlife Management Area was not renewed as of July 1, 2016, 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. 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, 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.

Conservation areas

in Vermilion Parish

Wildlife refuges