Bodcau Wildlife Management Area also referred to as Bodcau WMA, is a 34,355-acre tract of

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

land located in Bossier and

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta *Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United State ...

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The land is owned by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

and managed under long-term lease by the

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state wildlife and fishery areas. The agency is headquartered in the capital city of Baton Rouge. Mission The Louisiana Department of Wildlife a ...

(LDWF).

Description

The land within the WMA is predominantly bottomland hardwoods with two dams and lakes. The WMA narrowly follows Bodcau Creek (Bodcau Bayou), averaging 1 1/2 miles in width, from the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

line to just downstream of the ''Bayou Bodcau Dam and Reservoir'' located northeast of Bossier City.

Wildlife

Deer

Whitetail deer are in abundance as Bossier and Webster Parish are in the top 20 list of forested acres per deer. The Louisiana estimated deer population of 500,000 increased because of the wet rainy season and flooding around the state.

Concerns

There are concerns of the possibility of chronic wasting disease in Louisiana deer populations so there are import restrictions to battle this possibility. Local biologist are asking hunters to donate fifteen deer head from each of

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

, Bossier and DeSoto parishes. 360 deer were tested during the 2015–16 hunting season with no positive results.

Fish

The LDWF host the ''Family Fish Fest'' in May of every year at Ivan Lake.

Dove

Bodcau has two dove hunting fields and as with other Louisiana WMA's non-toxic shot no larger than #6 must be used.

Bayou Bodcau Dam and Reservoir

Construction of Bayou Bodcau Dam and Reservoir began in May 1947 and was completed in December 1949 pursuant to Louisiana Congressional approval in 1938 and 1939. Initially built for flood control, the dam and reservoir subsequent legislation authorized multi-purpose functions such as natural resource management, environmental stewardship, and public recreation, as well as flood damage reduction. E.C. Long owned a log cabin as early as 1843 and operated a ferry on Bayou Bodcau. Newsome Andrew and Elizabeth Rebecca Young Durden purchased the land and cabin. The cabin was destroyed by fire, rebuilt in 1925, and serves as an environmental education center for northwest Louisiana.

Ivan Lake

Ivan Lake is also within the WMA and was formed after the completion of a 1,300 ft Ogee spillway across ''Caney Creek'' in 1958. The impoundment created a lake providing 55 square miles of area (35,200 acres) watershed. The dam required repairs and the lake suffered from hydrilla infestation and

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

so was drained in 2004. The lake was refilled in 2012 and restocked.

Amenities

The WMA operates the ''Bodcau Wildlife Management Area Shooting Range''. The celebration of the ''National Hunting and Fishing Day'' is observed with activities directed at younger citizens. Louisiana has celebrated every year since President Richard Nixon signed proclamation 4128 designating the Fourth Saturday in September as "National Hunting and Fishing Day".Presidential Proclamation: National Hunting and Fishing Day
Retrieved 2018-05-16

References

{{Reflist Wildlife management areas of the United States Wildlife management areas of Louisiana Protected areas of Louisiana Geography of Bossier Parish, Louisiana Geography of Webster Parish, Louisiana