Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1994, is located
along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain between the towns of Mandeville
and Slidell, in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. This refuge is the indigenous
homeland of the Acolopissa and Choctaw people, whose descendants are present
in the region today. Refuge habitats include lake shoreline, freshwater and
intermediate marsh; bald cypress-tupelo forest; bayous; hardwood forest
hammocks; and long-leaf pine savannah. These habitats support freshwater and
marine fish, shorebirds, wading birds, seventeen species of wintering
migratory waterfowl, neotropical songbird migrants and the endangered red-
cockaded woodpecker.

Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1994, is located along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain between the towns of Mandeville and Slidell, in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. This refuge is the indigenous homeland of the Acolopissa and Choctaw people, whose descendants are present in the region today. Refuge habitats include lake shoreline, freshwater and intermediate marsh; bald cypress-tupelo forest; bayous; hardwood forest hammocks; and long-leaf pine savannah. These habitats support freshwater and marine fish, shorebirds, wading birds, seventeen species of wintering migratory waterfowl, neotropical songbird migrants and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

Bird's eye view of the park

Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

Pearl River, LA is a series of three locks and dams. The area is primarily for
day use with boating, hunting and fishing being popular.

Pearl River, LA is a series of three locks and dams.  The area is primarily for day use with boating, hunting and fishing being popular.

Pearl River - 3 Pools

Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1980, straddles the
borders of Louisiana and Mississippi, bisected by the Pearl River. The refuge
conserves bottomland hardwood forest habitat, which has significantly
diminished in the Mississippi River Delta over the last century. The refuge
provides habitat for species of concern such as the Gulf sturgeon, gopher
tortoise, ringed sawback turtle, and swallow-tailed kite.

Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge is bounded to the northeast by
Mississippi’s Old River Wildlife Management Area and by Louisiana’s Pearl
River Wildlife Management Area to the southwest. This creates a large area of
conserved forested wetlands and adjacent uplands within the Pearl River Basin.
The refuge’s bottomland forests of sweetgum-water oak stands are interspersed
with bald cypress-tupelo breaks and overcup oak-water hickory stands. The
refuge has 860 upland acres of loblolly and slash pine forest, which provides
habitat for the threatened gopher tortoise. The refuge is on the ancestral
lands of the Acolapissa whose descendants are present in Louisiana and
Mississippi today.

Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1980, straddles the borders of Louisiana and Mississippi, bisected by the Pearl River. The refuge conserves bottomland hardwood forest habitat, which has significantly diminished in the Mississippi River Delta over the last century. The refuge provides habitat for species of concern such as the Gulf sturgeon, gopher tortoise, ringed sawback turtle, and swallow-tailed kite.  Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge is bounded to the northeast by Mississippi’s Old River Wildlife Management Area and by Louisiana’s Pearl River Wildlife Management Area to the southwest. This creates a large area of conserved forested wetlands and adjacent uplands within the Pearl River Basin. The refuge’s bottomland forests of sweetgum-water oak stands are interspersed with bald cypress-tupelo breaks and overcup oak-water hickory stands.  The refuge has 860 upland acres of loblolly and slash pine forest, which provides habitat for the threatened gopher tortoise. The refuge is on the ancestral lands of the Acolapissa whose descendants are present in Louisiana and Mississippi today.

Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

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Pearl River - 3 Pools

Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge