Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, protects part of the Mississippi and Red River floodplain ecosystem. Established in 1988, it includes a former Red River channel, Lake Ophelia, and preserves remnants of the lower Mississippi Valley’s bottomland hardwood landscape, much of which was cleared for agriculture in the 1970s. Despite altered water flow from levees, its ridge-and-swale terrain supports diverse wetlands, forests, fields, and open waters that are important to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife. Management combines habitat restoration, reforestation, and farming practices that provide food and seasonal habitat while rebuilding a once-dominant wetland forest.