The unique habitat on J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert WMA supports a diversity of plants and animals, including rare and endangered species. The WMA’s terrain is extremely rugged with high ridges dropping sharply into creek bottoms and elevations ranging from 35 to 245 feet above sea level. Four small streams, totaling approximately 10 miles in length, meander through the WMA. Big Creek, the longest of these streams, is a rapidly flowing stream with a sand, gravel, and sandstone ledge bottom.
The forest overstory is a mixture of loblolly-shortleaf pine and upland hardwoods. The main tree species are magnolia; sweetgum; blackgum; loblolly and shortleaf pine; hickory; elm; ash; white, southern red, cherrybark, water, and post oak; beech; red maple; and hophornbeam. The understory species include Vitis sp., deciduous holly, Smilax sp., baccharis, flowering dogwood, rattan, huckleberry, oak leaf hydrangea, buckeye, blackberry, silky camellia, sourwood, downy serviceberry, Crataegus sp., and many other grasses and herbaceous plants.
The majority of the WMA (approximately 6,180 acres) was established in 1980; LDWF purchased 2,021 acres of the property and 4,159 acres were donated. Between 1984 and 2002, LDWF purchased approximately 1,345 additional acres in various tracts.
Contact J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert Wildlife Management Area
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Contact J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert Wildlife Management Area
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Sicily Island, LA 71368
Phone: (318) 343-4044
Service Area
Services provided in:
- Catahoula Parish, Louisiana
