Lake Martin, formerly known as Lake la Pointe, is a naturally occurring open body of water within a cypress-tupelo swamp in Acadian Louisiana. Historically, each fall and winter this low area filled with rainwater and backwater from the Vermilion River and Bayou Teche, then drained gradually through the spring and became essentially dry in summer. In the early 1950s, private landowners and a local agency agreed to construct a five-mile levee around the lake and forested areas to hold water throughout the year, creating Lake Martin as it is known today. The impounded area within the levee was designated as a fish and game preserve open for public recreation. Today Lake Martin is approximately 765 acres, with about 200 acres of open water and the rest a permanently flooded cypress-tupelo swamp. Property around the lake remains entirely private, with public use of surrounding woodlands, other than walking on identified trails, allowed only by permission. Over the years, Lake Martin became a popular local fishing and outdoor recreation area, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has taken an active role in managing fish and wildlife there. In 1977, a dip was installed, the pump station was refurbished, and a central drainage canal was dredged to improve drawdown capability to combat aquatic vegetation. After waterbirds developed a colony there in the late 1980s, water quality began to suffer because of near constant inundation and little opportunity to flush the system. In 2001, partners built a water control structure at the south end of the lake to allow water management through annual drawdowns in late fall after nesting birds had left the rookery, and the pump on the north end allowed refilling from the adjacent Ruth Canal if winter rainfall was not sufficient. Lake Martin is part of the greater Lake Martin Important Bird Area and lies within The Nature Conservancy’s Cypress Island Preserve, the largest remaining tract of hardwood forest in the Teche-Vermilion watershed. The preserve protects almost 10,000 acres of wild bottomland hardwood forest habitat and cypress-tupelo swamp, and Lake Martin’s nationally significant waterbird rookery serves as a popular spring nesting spot for herons, egrets, neotropic cormorants, roseate spoonbills, white ibis, and anhingas, with some species remaining year-round.