Centenary’s Backyard: The Red River National Wildlife Refuge
Welcome to the second installment of the Centenary’s Backyard series! This issue, I will be talking about the Bossier access point of the Red River National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge spans a large part of the Red River Valley, but the main Headquarters is where most of the recreation near us is. The main purpose of the refuge is to maintain and conserve the habitat for wildlife in this area, but it also provides public use for recreation. It is important for places like this to exist because not only are they educational, but also because so much of the land in the United States is privately owned, there is not public access to much other than your own property (if you even have any).
The management and conservation efforts the refuge works on are mainly waterfowl upkeep and banding as well as trying to control invasive species. The banding of waterfowl is a tool used to set the limits for hunting, and it can also give insight into the movement of waterfowl. Even more than banding the birds, staff also manipulate parts of the ecosystems in the park to have more herbaceous plants that wintering waterfowl feed on. The work they do with invasive species is also crucial to the survival of the wildlife and ecosystems in the refuge because they create unnecessary competition in many different areas. Whether it is a fight for water, sunlight, food, or shade, invasive species of animals and plants threaten the lives of those that are native to the Red River Valley.
Now that we have covered the functional parts of why we have the refuge, let’s get into the fun parts!
Distance from Centenary: the Bossier location is .4-6.5 miles depending on the route
Drive length: 12 minutes
Services/Amenities: Visitor Center, trails, plus hunting and fishing opportunities!
Activities: hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, birding, photography, and wildlife watching!
Rating: 8.5 waterfowl/9
Those who wish to hunt and fish at the refuge must have a signed copy of the hunting and fishing brochure. Throughout three units of the refuge, there are 12,000 acres available for hunting. These units are Bayou Pierre, Spanish Lake Lowlands, and Lower Cane River. There is also a youth hunt lottery done every year to give youth hunters the opportunity to experience duck hunting. The fishing opportunities are offered during certain times of the year, and some of the fish species included are catfish, bluegill, and largemouth bass.
If you don’t want to fish or hunt, but you want to immerse yourself in nature past a manicured city park, the refuge is one of the most accessible options for you with it being less than fifteen minutes away from campus. I love a good city park, but they are just little dots within an urban area, so going to the refuge is the quickest way for me to feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere. When I go, I will typically take a trail or two depending on how long I will be there and how much I want to exercise. Sometimes, I’ll bring a friend and make it more of a social endeavor. Those trips are usually more casual on the exercise end, so we’ll only do one and take it at a slower pace so we can chat while we walk. If my friend has a pet, we’ll usually bring them on a leash and have some fun with them as well.
As it was raining much of last week, I have not been able to take a trip to the refuge this school year, but I will hopefully soon! It’s been a while since I visited the Visitor Center. I want a new souvenir, so the next time that I go, I’ll be checking it out. I hope you also give the refuge a visit to see all the wonderful things they are doing for the environment and the recreation they are offering!
I’m in the Class of 2024 as a Biology major with a Political Science minor. I’ve got 5 Greek orgs/ honors societies to my name plus a few other clubs and jobs, but that doesn’t stop me from loving staff writing for the Congo!