Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge, just north of Bastrop in north central Louisiana, is a small federal refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Established in 1988 through the transfer of a 466-acre Farmers Home Administration tract and later enlarged by a free 38-acre lease from International Paper, it now covers 501 acres. The refuge is managed as a waterfowl sanctuary, with controlled water levels for nesting and wintering ducks. Its features include a wood duck nest box project, a permanent wetland for wintering waterfowl and wading birds, and reforested bottomland hardwoods on former farmland. Public access is limited to the observation tower area to protect wildlife.