The WMA is situated on the lower Mississippi River, starting at the Head of Passes, including an extreme northern portion of the Southwest Pass, all of the South Pass, and Pass a Loutre,[2] in the Plaquemines-Balize delta lobe of the Mississippi River Delta Basin.[3]
The Pass a Loutre WMA, within the Mississippi Delta, sometimes referred to as "The Birds Foot",[5][6] has a diverse range of wildlife including whitetail deer and rabbit, fur bearing animals and alligators, and indigenous as well as migratory birds and waterfowl that includes game species.
Since 2017, over 80% of the reed beds of Roseau Cane in the WMA have been damaged by the invasive "Roseau Cane Mealybug", Nipponaclerda biwakoensis, threatening wildlife habitat throughout the affected regions of the WMA.[8]
Starting July 1, 1993, a Wild Louisiana Stamp, hunting license, or fishing license is required to use any Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries administered land. This includes wildlife refuges, wildlife management area, and habitat conservation areas. Any person under sixteen or sixty and over are exempt from this requirement.[13]
Wetland enhancement programs
There have been many wetland enhancement programs in the WMA. Sixteen small-scale sediment diversions (crevasses), have been completed since 1986, as well as sediment retention measures.[14]
Artificial Reef Program
The WMA extends into the Gulf of Mexico as part of the "Artificial Reef Program" created by La. R.S. 56:639.1 et seq., and participants are the LDWF, the Louisiana State University School of the Coast and Environment, formerly the Center for Coastal, Energy, and Environmental Resources, and the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program.[15]
Loutre Restoration Project
In 2015 the Pass a Loutre Restoration Project received a $1,000,000 matching grant from the North-American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA). Partners in the grant are the Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority of Louisiana, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which will provide and additional $2,150,000. The project has an impact 2,034 acres of coastal marsh and 225 acres of beach/dune habitat, including migration and wintering habitat, and two remote bird nesting islands.[16]
^Mississippi River Delta Basin map: Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Restoration Plan, Introduction (7 of 80), figure 1; By the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force (November 1993)- Retrieved 2017-03-29
^Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Restoration Plan: "Mississippi River Delta Basin": pp. 3 (8 of 80), By the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force (November 1993)- Retrieved 2017-03-29
