Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge

Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Pearl River County, Mississippi St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Washington Parish, Louisiana
Nearest city	Picayune, Mississippi
Coordinates	30°32′51″N 89°47′38″W / 30.54750°N 89.79389°W / 30.54750; -89.79389Coordinates: 30°32′51″N 89°47′38″W / 30.54750°N 89.79389°W / 30.54750; -89.79389
Area	40,000 acres or 160 km²
Established	1980
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge

Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge is located 60 mi (97 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., and encompasses 36,000 acres (150 km²) of Pearl River Basin swampland.

History

On June 30, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 96-288 authorizing the 40,000-acre (160 km²) Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Washington and St. Tammany Parishes, Louisiana, and Pearl River County, Mississippi. Since that time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been acquiring bottomland hardwood habitat in the Pearl River Basin. On December 13, 1989, Congress authorized a boundary expansion for Bogue Chitto NWR that included an additional 8,400 acres (34 km²) of bottomland hardwoods in St. Tammany Parish. To date, some 36,447 acres (147.50 km²) have been placed under refuge management. The refuge is still in an acquisition phase.

Access

Access is primarily by boat on the refuge's Louisiana side and road access is available on the refuge's Mississippi side. In the summer of 2002, a new 0.75 mi (1.21 km) walking trail was unveiled on the Louisiana side of the Refuge that allows access into the interior of Bogue Chitto's habitat.

Wildlife and habitat

The refuge is home to hundreds of bird species. The most abundant species are the neotropical migrants, including the prothonotary and Swainson's warblers, tyrant flycatchers, yellow-billed cuckoo, and white-eyed vireo. In smaller numbers found on the refuge are migratory game birds such as American woodcock and wild turkey, wading birds such as egrets and herons, waterfowl such as wood duck, and raptors such as hawks and owls. Endangered and threatened species found on the refuge are bald eagle, ringed map turtle, gopher tortoise, inflated heelsplitter, and Gulf sturgeon. White-tail deer, squirrel, turkey and wild boar hunting and fishing are offered to the public.

Bogue Chitto NWR is primarily composed of bottomland hardwood habitat interlaced by the Bogue Chitto and Pearl river systems. Numerous sloughs, bayous and lakes are located on the refuge. Water levels fluctuate by several feet from their low point in the summer to winter/spring flood stage. Over 90% of the refuge can be flooded during seasonal high river periods. The mixed hardwood forest includes Water oak, Overcup Oak, American Elm, Sweetgum, and Red Maple on higher elevations and Bald Cypress, Water Tupelo, and Black Tupelo along the wettest areas. Mid-story in mixed hardwoods includes American Hophornbeam, Southern Arrowwood, Virginia Sweetspire and reproduction of the overstory. Typical mid-story plants along the sloughs and bayous are Buttonbush, Eastern Swampprivet, and Water Elm.

References

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

External links

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)

Protected areas of Mississippi

Federal

National Historical Parks	Natchez

National Battlefields, Military Parks and Battlefield Sites	Brices Cross Roads NBS Shiloh NMP Tupelo NB Vicksburg NMP

National Seashores	Gulf Islands

National Trails	Natchez Trace Parkway Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail

National Forests	Bienville Delta De Soto Holly Springs Homochitto Tombigbee

National Wildlife Refuges	Bogue Chitto Coldwater River Dahomey Grand Bay Hillside Holt Collier Mathews Brake Mississippi Sandhill Crane Morgan Brake Noxubee Panther Swamp St. Catherine Creek Tallahatchie Theodore Roosevelt Yazoo

National Estuarine Research Reserves	Grand Bay

State

State Parks	Buccaneer Clark Creek Natural Area Clarkco Florewood George P. Cossar Golden Memorial Grand Gulf Military State Park Great River Road Holmes County Hugh White John W. Kyle J. P. Coleman Lake Lincoln Lake Lowndes LeFleur's Bluff Legion Leroy Percy Natchez Paul B. Johnson Percy Quin Roosevelt Shepard Tishomingo Tombigbee Trace Wall Doxey

Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (web)

National Wildlife Refuges of the United States

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