Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge near Saint Francisville, Louisiana, was established on October 27, 2000, to conserve and restore native forested wetlands for migratory birds, aquatic life, and threatened or endangered species. Shaped through land purchases by The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it reached 9,623 acres by 2003. Along an unleveed stretch of the lower Mississippi River, flooding defines its bottomland forests, shrub-scrub swamp, and old-growth baldcypress-tupelo habitat. The refuge shelters species including the Louisiana black bear and neotropical migrants, and it is known for the National Champion baldcypress, a massive tree deep within the refuge.

St. Francisville, Louisiana · USA