Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, the forested wetland wilderness that is home to the biggest tree east of the Mississippi River, has actually been provided $1.47 million by the federal Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to include 548 acres to the reserve.
The sanctuary, situated along the river simply north of Baton Rouge, now consists of 10,943 acres in West Feliciana Parish near the town of St. Francisville. When Congress produced it in 2000, the sanctuary was licensed to ultimately obtain as much as 36,500 acres in the location.
Jimmy Laurent, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service sanctuary supervisor for Cat Island, said his workplace is working out with 2 landowners to finish the purchases, and up until then, the specific area of the growth locations is not available. He said both parcels were along the river.
Cat Island is best understood for being the area of the biggest tree east of the Mississippi River, a bald cypress – taxonomic name Taxodium distichum – that the American Forests Champion Trees program lists as the 5th biggest tree in the country.
That ranking is based upon a rating integrating the tree’s area, 626 feet; height, 91 feet, and spread of its crown or canopy, 87 feet. The 4 bigger trees remain in West Coast places, consisting of 2 California sequoias that are more than 1,200 feet and 950 feet high.
The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which supervises the fund, in April authorized spending $21.7 million for land acquisitions for 5 sanctuaries, consisting of at Cat Island. The other land purchases are:
- Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, Kentucky, $6.6 million, 2,482 acres
- Green River National Wildlife Refuge, Kentucky, $11.4 million, 1,335 acres
- Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, New Hampshire, $1 million, 797 acres
- Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, Washington state, $1.26 million, 239 acres
Money for the fund comes mostly from the sale of Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, typically called Duck Stamps, and import tasks on imported arms and ammo. Since 1934, the Federal Duck Stamp Program has actually raised more than $1.1 billion for environment preservation in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Large locations of the Cat Island sanctuary are typically flooded by Mississippi River water, normally in between December and June. The sanctuary simply resumed part of its Blue Goose Trail after water levels dropped this year. The water levels are forecasted to continue to fail completion of May and through June, and the capability to check out and take part in fishing seasons will resume beyond that path as conditions end up being favorable.
Public utilize guidelines are available online, or by calling the sanctuary workplace at 985.882.2000.
Staff author Mark Schleifstein can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter, @mschleifstein.
This work is supported with a grant moneyed by the Walton Family Foundation and administered by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
