Attakapas Wildlife Management Area

Protected area in Louisiana, US

29°56′34″N 91°27′46″W / 29.94278°N 91.46278°W / 29.94278; -91.46278Area27,962 acres (113.16 km²)Established1976Governing bodyState of Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Attakapas Island WMA

Attakapas Wildlife Management Area, also known as Attakapas Island Wildlife Management Area, is a 27,962-acre tract of protected area located in St. Mary, St. Martin, and Iberia Parishes, Louisiana. The property was acquired in 1976 and is under the authority of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).^[1] The LDWF has 25,730 acres and the USACOE has 2,200 acres.

Description

The WMA is located NNE of Jeanerette and Charenton, east of the west Atchafalaya Basin Spillway levee. The Atchafalaya River runs almost through the middle. The WMA is actually located on several islands with Bayou Chene on the west and West Grand Lake and East Grand Lake on the east. The northern boundary is the Texaco pipeline and the southern boundary is a three prong point with West Grand Lake on the west side, Thibodaux Chute in the center (above Cypress Island), and an area south of Blue Point (and Blue Point Chute) east of Tiger Island known as Willow Cove.

Destination points of hunters and fishermen on the west side of the Atchafalaya are Mud Cove (Iberia Parish), Rogers Cove, Miller Chute, Crew Boat Chute, Raymonds Cove, Goat Island, Myette Pointe, and San Diego Cut, in St. Mary Parish, along with part of Grassy Lake, that is on the east side of the river. There is a tract of land east of the Atchafalaya opposite Mud Cove in Iberia Parish and south of that is Schwing Cove, Schwing Chute, and an Exxon pipeline runs diagonal east to west through the area that is in St. Martin Parish. Union Oil #1 and #2 are both located south of Grassy Lake.^[2]

Restoration

In 1999 Hunt Oil installed a water control structure with some minor levee repairs when extending Crew Boat Chute. The improvements will increase moist-soil production with favorable water levels for early migratory waterfowl as well as wintering waterfowl.^[3]

References

^ Attakapas WMA- Retrieved 2017-02-19
^ Attakapas WMA map Archived 2017-02-20 at the Wayback Machine- Retrieved 2017-02-19
^ Crew Boat Chute enhancement- Retrieved 2017-02-19

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 wild and scenic rivers	Saline Bayou
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 Sabine Shell Keys 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 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 Lilly Conservation Area 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 Esler Field Floy Ward McElroy Fort Polk Grassy Lake Hutchinson Creek Indian Bayou Jackson Bienville J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area 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 Richard K. Yancey Russell Sage Sabine Sabine Island Salvador/Timken Sandy Hollow Sherburne (See: Atchafalaya Delta) Soda Lake Spring Bayou Tangipahoa Parish School Board Thistlethwaite Three Rivers Tunica Hills Union Walnut Hill West Bay