Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuges

Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge is a natural treasure on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans, LA. The refuge has over 18,000 acres of freshwater and brackish marsh, bald cypress-tupelo forest, bayous, hardwood forest hammocks, and pine savannah. The refuge's marshes provide habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl, are critical spawning and nursery habitat for a number of fresh and saltwater species of fish, and help buffer local communities from storm surge. Upland habitat on the refuge provides a stopping place for migratory songbirds and a home for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.