As part of the Louisiana Delta II North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant, Ducks Unlimited recently completed restoration work on the Lake Nick Unit of the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). By constructing two levees and two rock spillways and installing three 36-inch water-control structures, DU restored nearly 300 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, cypress brake, and scrub-shrub wetlands on the refuge.

Project construction was stalled when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) encountered a cultural resource site on another section of the Tensas River NWR. This discovery required importing all fill material for the project from a site outside the refuge boundaries to minimize the disturbance of any historical sites. The Lake Nick project site is nearly five miles from the nearest improved gravel road, making it a challenge to bring in materials.

Grant partners on this project included the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, USFWS, and Tunica-Biloxi Tribe.