The Refuge is part of the Central Louisiana Refuges Complex administered out of the Grand Cote NWR headquarters office located at 401 Island Road, Marksville, LA 71351. This brochure gives the visitor a variety of information of interest.
Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 to provide valuable waterfowl habitat in the Mississippi/Red River floodplain as part of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.
Lake Ophelia NWR was once part of a large contiguous Mississippi River bottomland hardwood forest. The Refuge was established in 2000 with the purpose of conserving and restoring habitat for migratory birds, aquatic resources, and endangered plants and animals.
