D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge

D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refugee
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Ouachita and Union Parish, Louisiana
Nearest city	West Monroe, Louisiana
Coordinates	32°36′30″N 92°13′00″W / 32.60833°N 92.21667°W / 32.60833; -92.21667Coordinates: 32°36′30″N 92°13′00″W / 32.60833°N 92.21667°W / 32.60833; -92.21667
Established	1986
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge

D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located north of West Monroe, Louisiana. It is in Ouachita and Union Parishes on either side of Bayou D'Arbonne near its confluence with the Ouachita River. It lies on the western edge of the Mississippi River alluvial valley. It was established in 1975 to protect bottomland hardwoods and provide wintering habitat for migratory waterfowl.^[1] D'Arbonne is one of four refuges managed in the North Louisiana Refuges Complex.

Ecology

D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge

The refuge is bisected by 13 miles of Bayou D'Arbonne and is crisscrossed by numerous creeks, sloughs, and oxbow lakes. Cypress swamps and bottomland hardwood and upland forests provide several types of habitat for native plants and animals. Local species include the American alligator, Rafinesque's big-eared bat, the bald eagle, and the red-cockaded woodpecker.

In years of normal or above rainfall, the refuge's bottomland hardwood forest is a very important overflow area for the Ouachita River basin. High water levels, which usually occur between January and May, can flood up to 87% of the refuge. The wetland forests not only provide habitat to wetland-dependent wildlife, but they also reduce damage from flooding in developed areas. They filter silt and pollutants from the water and they provide recharge areas for aquifers.

Recreation

No camping is allowed on the refuge. Camping areas can be found in nearby Lake D'Arbonne State Park.^[1]

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ".

1 2 "Fish & Wildlife Service - D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge" (PDF). Retrieved 7 February 2011.

External links

D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge

Protected areas of Louisiana

Federal

National Historical Parks	Cane River Creole Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve New Orleans Jazz

National Monuments	Poverty Point

National Marine Sanctuary	Flower Garden Banks

National Forests	Kisatchie

National Wildlife Refuge System	Atchafalaya Bayou Cocodrie Bayou Sauvage Bayou Teche Big Branch Marsh Black Bayou Lake Bogue Chitto Breton Cameron Prairie Cat Island Catahoula D'Arbonne Delta East Cove Grand Cote Handy Brake Lacassine Lake Ophelia Mandalay Red River Shell Keys Sabine Tensas River Upper Ouachita

State

State Parks	Bayou Segnette Bogue Chitto Chemin-A-Haut Chicot Cypremort Point Fairview-Riverside Fontainebleau Grand Isle Hodges Gardens Jimmie Davis Lake Bistineau Lake Bruin Lake Claiborne Lake D-Arbonne Lake Fausse Pointe North Toledo Bend Palmetto Island Poverty Point Reservoir St. Bernard Sam Houston Jones South Toledo Bend Tickfaw

State Historic Sites	Audubon Centenary Fort Jesup Fort Pike Fort St. Jean Baptiste Forts Randolph & Buhlow Locust Grove Longfellow-Evangeline Los Adaes Mansfield Marksville Plaquemine Lock Port Hudson Poverty Point Rebel State Rosedown Plantation Winter Quarters

State Preservation Area	Louisiana State Arboretum

State Forests	Alexander Indian Creek

State Wildlife Refuges	Elmer's Island Marsh Island Rockefeller St. Tammany State Terrebonne Barrier Islands White Lake Wetlands

Wildlife management areas	Acadiana Conservation Corridor Atchafalaya Delta Attakapas Barataria Preserve Bayou Macon Bayou Pierre Ben's Creek Big Colewa Bayou Big Lake Biloxi Bodcau Boeuf Bonnet Carré Spillway Buckhorn Camp Beauregard Catahoula Lake Clear Creek Dewey Wills Elbow Slough Elm Hall Floy Ward McElroy Fort Polk Grassy Lake Hutchinson Creek Indian Bayou Jackson Bienville Joyce Lake Boeuf Lake Ramsey Savannah Little River Loggy Bayou Manchac Marsh Bayou Maurepas Swamp Old River Control Ouachita Pass A Loutre Pearl River Peason Ridge Pointe-aux-Chenes Pomme de Terre Red River Russell Sage Sabine Island Sabine Salvador/Timken Sandy Hollow Sherburne Sicily Island Hills Soda Lake Spring Bayou Tangipahoa Parish School Board Thistlethwaite Three Rivers Tunica Hills Union Walnut Hill West Bay

Other

Private	Bird City Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary

City	Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism (web)
Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry (web)
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (web)

National Wildlife Refuges of the United States

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D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge

Ecology

Recreation

See also

References

External links