Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee

Restoring America's Greatest River

Richard K. Yancey Blackhawk Scar Lakes Ecosystem Restoration and Monitoring

Scar lakes at Yancey WMA.
Scar lakes, or floodplain lakes, at Yancey WMA are important for gar and many other fish.
Alligator Gar grow very large.
Solomon David of Nicholls State University, with an Alligator Gar.

The Richard K. Yancey Blackhawk Scar Lakes
Ecosystem Restoration and Monitoring Project, near Vidalia, Louisiana, will restore more natural floodplain hydrology to streams and lakes at the state-owned Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area by repairing and replacing failing culverts and a weir. It will benefit native floodplain fishes, including Alligator Gar and other gar species; improve water quality in and recreational access to floodplain water bodies; monitor the response of native floodplain fishes and fish communities once hydrology is restored; and develop public outreach strategies for managing and restoring floodplain aquatic habitat on private lands.


Project goals include:

A surveyor measures the elevation of a weir constructed at Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area in Louisiana.
A weir was constructed to maintain water levels in the scar lakes.
  • Restore more natural hydrology to 700 acres, including 171 acres of lakes.
  • Improve fish passage in 5 miles of streams.
  • Improve habitat for Alligator Gar and associated
    fish communities and monitor habitat use by floodplain fishes.
  • Improve and monitor water quality.
  • Provide recommendations to private landowners
    on managing and restoring floodplain habitats.

Project partners include the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Nicholls State University, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.