The Louisiana Atchafalaya Basin

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The Atchafalaya Basin: America's River of Old Growth Cypress Trees. The Atchafalaya Basin is the basin of the Atchafalaya River, a 135-mile long natural distributation of the Mississippi River that empties into the Gulf of Mexico and is the only growing delta in Louisiana. The Atchafalaya Basin contains the largest contiguous bottomland hardwood forest in North America. The vast delta of the Atchafalaya River is prime wintering habitat for waterfowl. Situated at the mouth of North America's most important flyway, the Basin supports half of America’s migratory waterfowl, more than 300 bird species, and provides the most important habitat for tropical migratory land birds and other birds of the Mississippi Flyway. The Basin includes some 1.4 million acres.