Caddo Lake Institute

09/04/2026

🐾It's National Wildlife Day! Caddo Lake is home to an incredible mix of life: great blue herons stalking the shallows, ospreys diving for fish, alligators sunning on cypress logs, and paddlefish moving through water. It's Texas's sole wetland of international importance and the incredible wildlife here is proof!

What's your favorite wildlife sighting at Caddo Lake? Tell us below👇

09/01/2026

Watch now - Live!

08/28/2026

Caddo Lake protects itself with the help of people who show up for it — and that's where you come in. 💧 CLI relies on donors to fund the science-based monitoring, advocacy, and stewardship that keep this wetland healthy for the long term. Every gift, big or small, goes directly toward protecting a place found almost nowhere else in Texas or Louisiana.

🌿Ready to help? Donate today! https://caddolakeinstitute.org/make-a-donation/
Your support keeps Caddo Lake's story going!

08/24/2026

💙Caddo Lake is one of the most ecologically significant places on the Texas-Louisiana border, and it didn't earn that status by accident.
But a designation isn't the same as protection — it takes ongoing work to keep it that way. Caddo Lake isn't just scenery — it's a functioning wetland ecosystem that filters water, buffers flooding, and supports species found almost nowhere else in Texas or Louisiana. One lake worth fighting for!

Caddo Lake Institute (CLI) is a non-profit scientific & educational organization with the mission of protecting & conserving the ecological, cultural, & economic integrity of Caddo Lake & it's surrounding wetlands.
https://linktr.ee/caddolakeinstitute

08/20/2026

Patient, precise, and built for this habitat — the little blue heron hunts by stalking slowly through shallow wetland margins like this one. 🩶 Watch long enough and you'll see the whole strategy: eyes locked on the water and then a strike almost too fast to catch. It's a hunting style built for wetlands exactly like Caddo Lake, where lily pads and shallow margins create the perfect cover for stalking prey.

But that strategy only works if the water underneath is doing its job. Every species on Caddo Lake, from the smallest invertebrate to this heron, depends on the same thing: clean, well-managed water and flows. Healthy margins like these don't happen by accident — they're the result of ongoing science-based management and monitoring. That's the work.

08/16/2026

Did you know that Great Egrets were nearly wiped out a century ago for the plume trade — today, they're one of Caddo Lake's most recognizable residents. 🕊️

Their presence at Caddo is a direct indicator of water quality and habitat health. Where you find egrets thriving, you find an ecosystem doing its job!

08/14/2026

Dams and reservoirs upstream can flatten the natural flow patterns Caddo Lake's ecosystem relies on. 📉 No more high-water pulses in spring. No more low-water periods that let cypress seedlings establish. The result: a slow decline in habitat quality that's easy to miss year to year. CLI works with partners on flow management that restores these natural rhythms — because a healthy Caddo Lake isn't just about water quantity, it's about timing. ⏳🐟

08/12/2026

🪷Meet the American lotus (Nelumbo lutea): one of Caddo Lake's most striking native bloomers. Its seed pods aren't just beautiful; they're a fantastic food source for waterfowl and a sign of a healthy, functioning wetland.

Native plant communities like this one are exactly what CLI works to protect. Join us by donating today: https://caddolakeinstitute.org/make-a-donation/

08/08/2026

🌲 Caddo Lake just earned another well-deserved spotlight! Travel + Leisure has named Caddo Lake one of America's most beautiful lakes and honestly, we're not surprised. 💚
With the largest bald cypress forest in the world, moss-draped trees rising from the water, and a maze of bayous and backwaters unlike anywhere else, Caddo Lake is truly one of a kind. This 27,000+ acre wonder is home to alligators, paddlefish, and countless species that call this wetland their peaceful home.
It's a reminder of why we do what we do — protecting and preserving this irreplaceable ecosystem for generations to come. 🐊🛶

Have you explored Caddo Lake yet? Tag a friend who needs to add this bucket-list destination to their list!

Explore 15 of the most beautiful lakes across the U.S., from “America’s Lucerne” in Vermont to the alpine scenery of Lake Tahoe on the California–Nevada border.

08/08/2026

Every morning on Caddo Lake tells a different story. 🌅 Sunlight breaking through Spanish moss and cypress canopy over a quiet channel — this is what 25,000 acres of Ramsar-protected wetland looks like at first light.

This ecosystem doesn't maintain itself. It takes science, stewardship, and people who show up for it.