Dewey Wills Wildlife Management Area on the Land Conservation Assistance Network

Dewey Wills Wildlife Management Area
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last updated: September 2022

Dewey W. Wills WMA is managed to provide wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation. The area is flat, poorly drained land that is subject to annual overflow and is interlaced with a number of bayous and lakes. The forest cover is a mixture of bottomland hardwoods. The major overstory species are overcup, nuttall, and willow oak; bitter pecan; ash; and elm. The understory of the lower elevations is composed mainly of swamp privet, native grasses and forbs, and seedlings of the overstory. On the higher elevations, the understory is composed of deciduous holly, hawthorn, smilax, swamp dogwood, peppervine, rattan vine, dewberry, blackberry, palmetto, and seedlings of the overstory. Prior to establishing Dewey W. Wills as a WMA, the timber in this area was harvested, creating an open canopy. Through LDWF’s forest management program, livestock was removed from the area, stimulating understory production. The forest canopy has now closed, and browse plants have been reduced. In recent years, a combination of conditions known as oak decline has developed on the area, killing a significant portion of overstory trees. LDWF has modified its forest management program to fight oak decline.

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