Header Link to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Home Page

Duck Stamps & Conservation

Mark Trail Cartoon & Background
About Duck Stamps
View Stamp Images
Federal Duck Stamp Contest
Junior Duck Stamp Program
Contact Information
Buy Stamps
Product Information
Home

Delta National Wildlife Refuge

Snowy egrets at Delta National Willdlife Refuge
Refuge Overview: Established in 1935, the Delta National Wildlife Refuge protects a delta formed in 1862 when the Mississippi River breached a natural levee just south of Venice, Louisiana. The area quickly became a prime sanctuary for wintering waterfowl. Federal Duck Stamp dollars helped to purchase this 49,000 acre refuge.
John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS Photo
Wildlife and Habitat: Delta National Wildlife Refuge provides brackish and freshwater marsh habitats, providing important foraging areas for wintering migratory waterfowl. The Delta is actively managed through a crevasse program to ensure that rich sediment deposits continue to enrich the marches, despite man-made levees that surround the area (built for flood control).

During peek periods, migratory waterfowl populations can exceed 400,000 on the Delta’s marches. The area is also a haven for a number of endangered and threatened species, including American alligators, brown pelicans, arctic peregrine falcons, and piping plovers. In addition, thousand of shorebirds, such as greater and lesser yellowlegs, long-billed dowitchers, dunlins, western sandpipers, Wilson’s plovers, killdeer and willets, winter on the refuge as well. Other wildlife, fish, and amphibian species are also prolific in the Delta’s marshes.
Recreation Opportunities: Delta National Wildlife Refuge is accessible only by boat, but there are abundant public use opportunities available there. The refuge is open to hunting, fishing, and trapping. It is also a wonderful destination for canoeing, photography, wildlife viewing, and camping (primitive camping only).

Additional Resources