Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge

The refuge borders Catahoula Lake, a 26,000-acre natural wetland that draws peak winter populations of 75,000 ducks. Established in 1958 as a wintering ground for migratory waterfowl, the refuge now protects 25,162 acres across two units: a 6,671-acre Headquarters Unit along nine miles of the lake's northeast shore, and an 18,491-acre Bushley Bayou Unit eight miles west of Jonesville, added in 2001 through a partnership between The Conservation Fund, American Electric Power, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. The habitat is lowland hardwood forest that floods seasonally when the Ouachita and Red Rivers back up. White-tailed deer, songbirds, raptors, waterbirds, reptiles, and amphibians move through year-round. In 1979, the Duck Lake Impoundment added 1,200 acres of managed waterfowl habitat where staff manipulate water levels to grow aquatic and moist-soil vegetation. In 2001, the refuge earned designation as a Globally Important Bird Area. Catahoula Lake itself is recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, a historic concentration point for shorebirds, waterbirds, and the great seasonal waves of waterfowl that still come down. Go in winter if you want to see what 75,000 ducks looks like.