| Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
 Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge on July 20, 2025 | |
  Map of Louisiana Show map of Louisiana Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Madison /Tensas /Franklin parishes,Louisiana |
| Nearest city | Tallulah, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 32°15′N91°22′W / 32.250°N 91.367°W /32.250; -91.367 |
| Area | 64,012 acres (259.05 km2) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Visitors | 72,000 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge |
TheTensas River National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife area located west of the city ofTallulah inMadison,Tensas andFranklin parishes in northeasternLouisiana, USA.
The refuge is in located in the upper basin of theTensas River, which is also the last documented home of theivory-billed woodpecker. The refuge also has one of the last concentrations of the threatenedLouisiana black bear. In 1907, former PresidentTeddy Roosevelt hunted black bear just north of the refuge boundary and the famous "teddy bear" was introduced as a result of an incident during the hunt. Concentrations ofducks,geese,raptors,wading birds andshorebirds are present. Several rookeries are in the reserve.
In 1932,Mason Spencer, astate representative from the nearby town of Tallulah, armed with a gun and a hunting permit, shot a rare male ivory-billed woodpecker on a large tract of swamp forest land owned by theSinger Sewing Company. He killed the bird to prove to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries that the creature existed in Madison Parish, as that had been a matter in dispute.[1] As this particular woodpecker faced ultimate extinction, as early as 1938, theAudubon Society persuadedU.S. SenatorAllen J. Ellender to work for the establishment of a proposed Tensas Swamp National Park to preserve sixty thousand acres of lands then owned by the Singer Company. Ellender's bill died in committee, but in 1980, Congress established the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge.[2]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromTensas River National Wildlife Refuge.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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