Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1994, encompasses 18,000 acres of habitat along the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain between the towns of Slidell and Mandeville, LA. The forests, marshes, and wetlands of the Refuge buffer these coastal communities from storm surge while creating habitat for many of the fish and wildlife species that make Louisiana a rich ecosystem and a sportsman's paradise.

Refuge habitats support freshwater and marine fish, shorebirds, wading birds, neotropical songbird migrants, and seventeen species of wintering migratory waterfowl. The pine savannah habitat supports the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Wood Ducks, deer, rabbit, mink, otter, raccoon, alligator, and muskrat are year-round residents of the Refuge.