The Sherburne Complex is a joint land management venture of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 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), and the

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

that began in 1983. The area consists of , and is managed by the

. The complex is located in the Morganza Flood way system of the Atchafalaya Basin about west of

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

and actually extends a little south of the

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

Atchafalaya Basin Bridge at Whiskey Bay, Louisiana. The bridge crosses the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel. Located on the graveled LA 975, the west boundary is on the east side of the Atchafalaya River with the east boundary being the East Protection Levee. The complex stretches just north of old highway 190, and a short distance to the south of I-10. The nearest town is

Krotz Springs Krotz Springs is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Atchafalaya River. The population was 1,198 at the 2010 census, down from 1,219 in 2000. It is part of the Opelousas–Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area. His ...

to the north off US 190.

History

The Atchafalaya Basin is in the Lower Mississippi River area of the

Mississippi River Delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Isla ...

. The culmination of events that eventually led to the existence of wildlife management areas in the Basin in general and the Shereburne Complex in particular began after the Great Flood of 1844 and

1851 Events January–March * January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion. * January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly. ...

. The Great Flood of 1927 prompted the Louisiana Legislature to pass several

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

bills, including the

Flood Control Act of 1928 The Flood Control Act of 1928 (FCA 1928) ( 70th United States Congress, Sess. 1. Ch. 569, enacted May 15, 1928) authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct projects for the control of floods on the Mississippi River and it ...

, as well as Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR&T) Project. The result was the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway system, channelization (Whiskey Bay cutoff), and bank stabilization projects. During the 1930s and 1940s extensive dredging was performed on the Atchafalaya. In 1954, after the Great Flood of 1951, major dredging was resumed by the Corps. In 1963 the Old River control structure was built to prevent the capture of the Mississippi by the Atchafalaya. In 1968, because of environmental concerns as well as a lack of funds,

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

was discontinued. In 1972 the Louisiana Congress enacted act 365 that established the Atchfalaya Basin Division, within the Department of Public Works. The Corps was directed to develop a plan for the Atchafalaya Basin which was completed in 1982 and became the "Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System Project" (ABFS). In 1983, were purchased by the state for the creation of the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area. In 1985, Louisiana Public Law 99-88 was enacted to authorize a multipurpose plan.

State authorization

In 1986, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

approved $250,000.000 towards the creation of the Atchafalaya Basin Program and Louisiana Public Law 99-662, section 906, stated the plan to be of

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

al interests. Governor Foster appointed the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to work with the Corps of Engineers to produce the "Atchafalaya Basin Master Plan" for the development of the basin. In 1988 a plan was implemented and the current alliance was formed (Section 4.41-B of the Master Plan) creating the Sherburne Complex.

Sherburne Complex

The Sherburne Complex combines the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area (WMA),

Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge The Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge is located about west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and one mile (1.6 km) east of Krotz Springs, Louisiana, lies just east of the Atchafalaya River. In 1988 under the administration of Governor Foster th ...

, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Bayou Des Ourses (Bayou of the Bears), with the intent of conservation and management of all fish and wildlife within the boundaries of the complex. The entire area is classified as "bottomland hardwoods". The area contains

swamps A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

, overflow

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, and many

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s. This provides opportunities for scientific research,

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

, and fish- and wildlife-oriented recreation. The three combined areas offer

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * AT ...

trails, two campgrounds, a shooting range and boat launches. There is also a marked paddling trail that lets visitors tour the bayou without a guide. Recreations also includes

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

and

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

watching,

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, trapping,

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

, and nature photography, all complemented by all-weather roads.

Sherburne WMA

are owned by The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The headquarters is located south of Krotz Springs on LA 975 in Point Coupe Parish, north of I-10. The office is the site of the Sherburne

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

, which was a logging town from the 1880s to the 1930s, and ceased to exist after the timber was exhausted.

Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge

An area of , set aside as a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

, established in 1986, is part of the complex. Atchafalaya is a

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

Native American word: ''hacha'' for river and ''falaia'' for long, or "long river". All persons older than 16 or younger than 60 using wildlife management areas in the state of Louisiana, including the refuge, for any reason other than just traveling LA 975 must purchase a Wild Louisiana Stamp,

, or fishing

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

, or pay a daily charge of $2.00.

Bayou Des Ourses

An area of is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The name means ''Bayou of the Bears'' and is across the Atchafalaya River from of Corps land called Indian Bayou. The area also includes the South Farm Unit.

Atchafalaya Basin

The combined area of the Sherburne Complex is part of the Atchafalaya Basin, the nation's largest river swamp, containing almost one million acres (4,000 km²). The basin begins near Simmesport and stretches some southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, the Atchafalaya Basin is bound by natural ridges formed by levee building along active and abandoned courses of the Mississippi River. Around 60 species of reptiles and amphibians, along with over 250 species of birds, including the

American bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

and the

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

, can be found in this productive region. Many types of animal life and nearly 100 different species of fish and aquatic life can also be found in the basin.

Oil and gas

There are extensive gas pipe lines with names such as Gulf Central Pipeline, Dixie Pipeline, Dow Pipeline, Gas Gathering Pipeline, as well as Oil wells located in the area.

Controversy

Since 2001 and the controversy over road tree right-of-way clear cutting for oil wells, many agencies and organizations give input, oversight, and management assistance to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries concerning the protection and future of the complex. Right of way clearings for a new road to allow access to oil wells allowed cutting of kite nesting trees at the height of Neotropical migrant

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and cha ...

. The results, including a meeting at the Sherburne WMA headquarters August 14, 2001, resulted in many changes in the policies of the complex including that there will be no further implementation of forestry prescriptions during the breeding season. The Louisiana Natural Heritage Program, within the LDWF, is part of the Nature Conservancy, along with other organizations, with the responsibility of ensuring that the protection of the natural integrity of the complex is maintain within all aspects of planning and implementation of future decisions.

References

External links

Sherburne Complex Wildlife Management Area
- Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge
- US Fish & Wildlife Service {{authority control National Park Service areas in Louisiana National Wildlife Refuges in Louisiana IUCN Category V Wildlife management areas of the United States Wildlife management areas of Louisiana Protected areas of Iberville Parish, Louisiana Protected areas of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana Swamps of Louisiana Protected areas established in 1986 Floods in the United States Flood control in the United States 1844 natural disasters in the United States 1851 natural disasters in the United States 1951 natural disasters in the United States 1893 natural disasters in the United States Environmental organizations based in the United States Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Nature Conservancy preserves Organizations established in 1996 Nature reserves in Louisiana 1986 establishments in Louisiana