Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Monroe

Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge is one of five refuges managed in the North Louisiana Refuge Complex and one of 545 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It was established in 1997 through a unique partnership with the city of Monroe, Louisiana. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a free 99-year lease to manage the city-owned lake.
Black Bayou Lake is studded with cypress and tupelo trees, and surrounded by swamps that graduate into bottomland hardwoods and then into upland mixed pine/hardwoods. Cherrybark oak, cedar elm, ash, hickories and willow oak dominate the lower areas while shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, mockernut hickory and post oak dominate the upland sites. Common wildlife seen include alligators, wood ducks, bird-voiced treefrogs, broad-banded water snakes, red-eared sliders, green herons, coyotes, skunks, and white-tailed deer. The refuge supports an excellent fisheries resource and provides valuable habitat for migratory waterfowl, neotropical migratory songbirds, and many resident wildlife species.

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