Great Rivers Partnership - LMR Cat Island Tunica Hills Complex

Cat Island - Tunica Hills Complex

Covering approximately 82,000 mostly forested acres, the Cat Island/Tunica Hills complex includes Cat Island, a peninsular bottomland bordered on the west and south by an expansive bend in the Mississippi River, and a portion of the Tunica Hills, uplands adjacent to Cat Island on the east and north. The complex supports a small population of Louisiana black bear, a subspecies of the American black bear listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Located along the southernmost portion of the Mississippi without levees, Cat Island floods during winter and spring of most years to varying depths that may exceed 10 feet. The “island,” which has been designated as a priority bird conservation area, shelters a 20,000-acre, forest-nesting bird guild and is home to the national champion bald cypress tree and others of that species estimated at 500 to 1,000 years old.

The adjoining Tunica Hills were formed by the accumulation of loess (wind-deposited soil). They are part of a band of such soils that extend more or less continuously as bluffs along the east bank of the Mississippi from southern Illinois to near Baton Rouge, La. Highly susceptible to erosion, the soils have been sculpted into a landscape of ridges with narrow tops, deep ravines and steep slopes. The ravines’ cooler microclimate provides habitat for plant and animal species typical of more northern areas such as the Ozark and Appalachian mountains, which, in combination with occurring southern species, makes the Tunica Hills an ecoregion of significant biodiversity

Strategies and Progress

A significant portion of the forested land within the complex has been managed over the decades for timber production and the composition and structure of the site’s forest has been altered to some extent. In addition, some marginal agricultural lands within the site appear optimal for reforestation through incentive-based programs benefiting landowners.

The work of the Lower Mississippi River Program with regard to the Cat Island/Tunica Hills Complex is based on a foundation of prior work in the area by The Nature Conservancy and state and federal agencies. In 2000, the Conservancy’s Louisiana chapter purchased 9,500 acres that became the core area the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge. The land was subsequently acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in stages. The Congressionally- approved acquisition boundary for the refuge encompasses 36,500 acres.

In the Tunica Hills, the Conservancy acquired in 1991 the core area of what would become the Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area, now totaling some 5,225 acres and managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and received by donation the 110-acre Mary Ann Brown Preserve. Other publicly owned sites within the Tunica Hills are the Tunica Hills State Preservation Area (3,477 acres) and the Port Hudson State Commemorative Area (899 acres), both managed by the Louisiana Office of State Parks.

Cat Island/Tunica Hills

LMR Program

Priority Sites

Quick Links

Cat Island Map

The Nature Conservancy and its partners work at sites along the entire length of the Mississippi River, from its headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.