WETLANDS MONTH--CADDO LAKE, 1: The south's largest cypress swamp ... on Passport to Texas.
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PTT from TPW and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Caddo Lake borders Texas and Louisiana, and it's one of the largest and most mature cypress swamps in the south. 

Historically, Caddo lake was the only naturally formed lake in Texas -- by a great raft on the Red River -- which backed water up--that was here even before the state of Texas was here. :11

Vanessa Adams is the area biologist at the Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area. 

They had a convention in Ramsar, Iran, and decided to designate certain wetlands across the world as wetlands of international importance. In 1993, Caddo Lake was designated; and it is the first and only one in the state of Texas with that designation. :16

Wetlands, like those at Caddo Lake, perform important functions.

The ones here at Caddo Lake, they will act as catch basins, and they slow floods. When the water backs up into these bottomlands and in these swamps, it slows their flow. And during that slow flow, the nutrients will fall out. Therefore, you have a bit of a filtering system for the water that goes further downstream, or further into that lake. And it acts as a way to clean the water. :22

The wildlife of Caddo Lake -- that's tomorrow.

That's our show ... with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program ... providing funding for wetland conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement Program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.