Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge

United States wildlife refuge

32°50′06″N 91°48′06″W / 32.83500°N 91.80167°W / 32.83500; -91.80167Area501 acres (2.03 km²)Established1988Visitors4,250 (in 2005)Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceWebsiteHandy Brake National Wildlife Refuge

Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge is located just north of Bastrop, Louisiana in Morehouse Parish, north central Louisiana. The refuge was established in 1988 with the southeast's first fee title transfer of a Farmer's Home Administration tract (466 acres) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A free lease of 38 acres (150,000 m²) from International Paper increased the refuge to the current 501 acres (2.03 km²).

Wildlife and habitat

Handy Brake NWR has a wood duck nest box project. Water levels are manipulated to provide optimal habitat for nesting and wintering ducks. The refuge lands cleared for agriculture prior to the establishment of the refuge have been reforested to bottomland hardwoods.

An observation platform overlooks a permanent wetland, which is excellent habitat for wintering waterfowl, wading birds and many other wetland dependent species. Prairie grasses were established between the water and the observation tower. Periodic mowing or burning of this prairie area prevents woody vegetation from obscuring the view from the platform and provides habitat for grassland birds and other wildlife species.

Handy Brake is managed as a waterfowl sanctuary and access is restricted to the area immediately adjacent to the observation tower.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge Website". Retrieved 2011-08-21.

"Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge Profile". Retrieved 2011-08-21.

External links

Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine - US Fish & Wildlife Service

Protected areas of Louisiana

Federal

National Historical Parks	Cane River Creole Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve New Orleans Jazz
National Monuments	Poverty Point
National Marine Sanctuary	Flower Garden Banks
National Forests	Kisatchie
National wild and scenic rivers	Saline Bayou
National Wildlife Refuge System	Atchafalaya Bayou Cocodrie Bayou Sauvage Bayou Teche Big Branch Marsh Black Bayou Lake Bogue Chitto Breton Cameron Prairie Cat Island Catahoula D'Arbonne Delta East Cove Grand Cote Handy Brake Lacassine Lake Ophelia Mandalay Red River Sabine Shell Keys Tensas River Upper Ouachita

State

State Parks	Bayou Segnette Bogue Chitto Chemin-A-Haut Chicot Cypremort Point Fairview-Riverside Fontainebleau Grand Isle Hodges Gardens Jimmie Davis Lake Bistineau Lake Bruin Lake Claiborne Lake D-Arbonne Lake Fausse Pointe North Toledo Bend Palmetto Island Poverty Point Reservoir St. Bernard Sam Houston Jones South Toledo Bend Tickfaw
State Historic Sites	Audubon Centenary Fort Jesup Fort Pike Fort St. Jean Baptiste Forts Randolph & Buhlow Locust Grove Longfellow-Evangeline Los Adaes Mansfield Plaquemine Lock Port Hudson Poverty Point Rebel State Rosedown Plantation Winter Quarters
State Preservation Area	Louisiana State Arboretum
State Forests	Alexander Indian Creek
State Wildlife Refuges	Elmer's Island Marsh Island Rockefeller St. Tammany State Terrebonne Barrier Islands White Lake Wetlands
Wildlife management areas	Acadiana Conservation Corridor Atchafalaya Delta Attakapas Barataria Preserve Bayou Macon Bayou Pierre Ben Lilly Conservation Area Ben's Creek Big Colewa Bayou Big Lake Biloxi Bodcau Boeuf Bonnet Carré Spillway Buckhorn Camp Beauregard Catahoula Lake Clear Creek Dewey Wills Elbow Slough Elm Hall Floy Ward McElroy Fort Polk Grassy Lake Hutchinson Creek Indian Bayou Jackson Bienville J. C. "Sonny" Gilbert Wildlife Management Area Joyce Lake Boeuf Lake Ramsey Savannah Little River Loggy Bayou Manchac Marsh Bayou Maurepas Swamp Old River Control Ouachita Pass A Loutre Pearl River Peason Ridge Pointe-aux-Chenes Pomme de Terre Richard K. Yancey Russell Sage Sabine Sabine Island Salvador/Timken Sandy Hollow Sherburne (See: Atchafalaya Delta) Soda Lake Spring Bayou Tangipahoa Parish School Board Thistlethwaite Three Rivers Tunica Hills Union Walnut Hill West Bay

Other

Private	Bird City Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary
City	Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

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National Wildlife Refuges of the United States