The White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area (WLWCA), located in Vermilion Parish, covers approximately 72,000 acres, of which 75 percent is freshwater marsh managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). The remaining 19,000 acres include leased lands of over 10,000 agricultural acres and smaller areas of woods, levees, access channels, and campsites.

The primary goal of the WLWCA is to sustain and manage habitat and food sources for wetland wildlife, including mammals, fish, alligators, and 174 recorded species of birds, with a primary focus on waterfowl. LDWF’s secondary goals for WLWCA include controlled public access to the property, education and outreach activities, as well as biological and ecological assessments and research on the property’s wetlands, farmlands, plants, and animals.

LDWF maintains a year-round, two-mile birding and nature trail, including a pavilion, educational kiosks, and an observation tower, as well as a 17,000-acre impoundment that is home to a non-migratory whooping crane population introduced in 2011. The reintroduction of this endangered species marks the first time in over 60 years that whooping cranes have inhabited Louisiana.

WLWCA has historically achieved habitat management efforts by controlling water levels using levees, gates, weirs, and pumps. However, infrastructure damage from storms, including a historic 12 to 18-foot storm surge fro Hurricane Rita in 2005, elevation loss, sea level rise, and extensive degradation and breaches of shoreline levees, have resulted in significant deterioration of habitat and agricultural land. The lodge has also suffered damage from storms and impacts from maintenance issues associated with an aging structure.

To preserve the critical habitats of WLWCA, CPRA, and LDWF have initiated a comprehensive master planning effort to establish a clear, long-term vision, identify the actions needed to advance management goals, set priorities, develop costs for implementation, explore options for revenue generation, and devise a path forward to procure necessary funding. Ultimately, the comprehensive Master Plan, set to be completed in September 2025, will provide a path forward for the ecological restoration of WLWCA and an economic strategy for the property’s self-sustainability.

SHORELINE AND LEVEE STABILIZATION

In addition to the comprehensive Master Plan, CPRA is working with LDWF on shoreline stabilization and levee stabilization on several critical areas of the refuge that are experiencing significant erosion. This effort is currently under engineering and design. Construction of the first phase of work is expected to be initiated in early 2026.