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Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge
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Park Photo Gallery
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Park Event Calendar
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Park Contact Information
Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge
209 Nature Road
Lake Arthur, 70649
National
Park Overview
Nature of the Area
During the winter months, the refuge supports peak populations of over 300,000 ducks and geese. Large wintering concentrations of white-fronted and snow geese can be found here. Pintail, blue-winged and green-winged teal, mallards, ring-ecked ducks, gadwalls and
American wigeon are common on the refuge during the winter months. Breeding populations of black-bellied whistling-ducks, wood ducks and
blue-winged teal are found on the refuge during the summer months.
A variety of wading birds are common on the refuge, particularly during the breeding season. One of the only roseate spoonbill nesting rookeries in Louisiana is located in Lacassine Pool - 16,000 acre freshwater impoundment found on the refuge. Other common marsh and water birds include neotropic cormorants anhingas great blue, tricolored and
little blue herons great and snowy egrets black-crowned and yellow-crowned night herons white and white-faced ibises king rails American coots common moorhens purple gallinules and black-ecked stilts. A complete refuge bird list is available online or in brochure format.
The refuge also provides suitable habitat for armadillos, swamp rabbits, fox squirrel, nutria, mink, otters, raccoons, coyotes, white-tailed deer and
a large population of American alligators. Numerous fish, frog, turtle and
snake species can also be found on the refuge.
The Louisiana coastal marshes occupy over four million acres in a continuous band which extends from the Mississippi state line on the east to the Texas state line on the west. The western portion of the area is known as the Chenier Plain, which is bordered on the north by the Pleistocene Prairie formation -lso known as the ricebelt in southwestern Louisiana. Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in the Cameron and Evangeline Parishes and straddles the border of the Pleistocene Prairie and the Chenier Plain marshes. The refuge is bisected by the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and Bayou Lacassine and is bordered on the east by the Mermentau River and on the west by the Bell City Drainage Ditch. The southern border of the refuge is formed by Lake Misere, Bayou Misere, Mud Lake and
Grand Lake.
The vegetative types occuring on the refuge are primarily water tolerant grasses, sedges and
shrubs. The types vary according to frequency, depth and
length of time water covers the area. Vegetation in the undeveloped marshes is dominated by bulltongue. Vegetation in Lacassine Pool - 16,000 acre freshwater impoundment, consists primarily of bulltongue, maidencane, watershield, waterlily, spikerush and
southern bullrush.
Lacassine NWR is managed extensively for waterfowl and other Louisiana coastal wetland species. The refuge manipulates water levels to manage for naturally occuring marsh and moist soil plants and plants crops to provide food for wintering waterfowl that migrate down the Mississippi and Central flyways. Prescribed burning is utilized to invigorate native coastal prairie grass and forb growth and also to reduce the fuel load and organic accumulation in the marshes.
The refuge is also in the process of restoring coastal prairie habitat. Coastal prairie is a type of tallgrass prairie, similar to the tallgrass prairie of the midwest U.S. This ecosystem once extended from Corpus Christi, TX to its eastern limit at the margin of pine savanna along a north south line running from Opelousas to Lafayette, LA. In pre-settlement times, the coastal prairie was estimated to have encompassed as much as nine million acres of land. Today, substantially less than one percent of the coastal prairie remains in a relatively undisturbed condition. The remaining 99.9 percent has been nearly eliminated by agriculture. Refuge staff have conducted several small prairie restorations on the refuge in Cameron Parish and are in the process of restoring a 350 acre refuge tract in Evangeline Parish.
More Info
Welcome to the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge home page on the World Wide Web. The buttons on the left direct you to a wide array of additional information to help you learn more about the
...999 David J. LHoste
...d Checklists of the United States Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge Lake Arthur, Louisiana Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, comprising 34,760 acres, was established in 1937 primarily to
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...ollection of information on Louisiana Birding Festivals, bird clubs, birding trail, birdwatching
includes tours of the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Holleyman Sheely Migratory Bird
...assine National Wildlife Refuge The Travel Guide for Photographers Photo Information... Location Lacassine NWR
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