Lake Champlain Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs)

What are Wildlife Management Areas?

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are protected areas set aside for the conservation of fish, birds and other wildlife and for protection of their habitat. Some of the WMAs occupy land that is environmentally sensitive.

WMAs are also set aside for recreational activities involving wildlife and to provide people with opportunities for fish and wildlife-based recreation. WMAs are open to hunting, trapping, fishing, wildlife viewing and other wildlife-related outdoor activities.

How WMAs are Funded

Primarily the management and administration of all WMAs is funded through the sale of hunting and trapping licenses, and from the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration (Pittman-Robertson) Fund. The Pittman–Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 places an excise tax on guns, ammunition and archery equipment, of which 10% is returned to the states to fund restoration and management efforts and to acquire land for wildlife habitat and restore and manage the wildlife on that land.

Some Vermont WMAs have also been purchased with assistance from the Vermont Duck Stamp Fund, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Ducks Unlimited, The North American Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the North American Wetland Conservation Fund. New York State Bond Acts in 1960, 1972 and 1986 have also helped fund the New York WMA system.

Lake Champlain Wildlife Management Areas

New York State offers over 110 Wildlife Management Areas and Vermont has over 80 WMA’s. There are 24 WMA’s along Lake Champlain; they are:

New York WMAs

• Ausable Marsh
• East Bay
• King’s Bay
• Monty’s Bay
• Wickham Marsh

Vermont WMAs

• Black Creek
• Carmans Marsh
• Cornwall Swamp
• Dead Creek
• East Creek
• Halfmoon Cove
• Hubbardton Battlefield
• Intervale
• Lemon Fair WMA
• Little Otter Creek
• Lower Lamoille River
• Lower Otter Creek
• Maquam
• Mud Creek
• Rock River
• Sandbar
• The Narrows
• Ward Marsh
• Whitney-Hospital Creek

Get out and explore some of these wonderful areas that are set aside for your enjoyment.

 Lake Champlain Islands

Lake Champlain is home to over 80 islands. Some of these islands are no more than a large rock jutting from the lake; others are large enough to support entire towns. There are privately owned islands with seasonal residences, publicly owned islands that are nature preserves and year-round communities of ‘Islanders’.

The ‘Lake Champlain Islands’

When people refer to the ‘Lake Champlain Islands’, they are usually speaking about Vermont’s Grand Isle County, which is made up of some of the lake’s largest islands. Grand Isle County is comprised of the Vermont towns of Alburgh, Grand Isle, Isle LaMotte, North Hero and South Hero. These towns are all located on the ‘Lake Champlain Islands’ except Alburgh, which is actually located on a peninsula extending south into Lake Champlain from Quebec, Canada. Alburgh, Vermont is not attached to any other part of Vermont or the rest of the United States by land, and can only be reached by bridge or boat from the U.S. (see: Alburgh, Vermont: An Exclave).

Listing of Lake Champlain Islands

Following is an alphabetical list of Lake Champlain’s islands. The list includes some islands that are actually in tributaries of Lake Champlain, or are located in the Richelieu River at the outflow of the lake. Links to the individual islands will be activated as the listings become available.

Ash Island (Ile Ash): large island in Richelieu River between Clarenceville and Lacolle, Quebec
Ball Island
Birch Island
Bixby Island: one of the Three Sisters Islands
Burton Island: This large island lies off the southwestern tip of St. Albans Point in LakeChamplain’s Inland Sea
Butler Island: located just east of North Hero, Vermont
Button Island: located in Button Bay in Vergennes, Vermont
Carleton’s Prize: Carleton’s Prize is a solitary chunk of rock that rises from the lake about three miles east of Valcour, just off Providence Island
Cave Island: Located in Mallett’s Bay in Colchester, Vermont
Cedar Island – Charlotte, Vermont: located in Converse Bay in Charlotte, Vermont
Cedar Island – South Hero, Vermont: privately owned 8.4 acre island just east of South Hero, Vermont
Cloak Island: small island located off Isle La Motte’s south east coast
Coates Island:
Cole Island:
Crab Island:
Dameas Island:
Dean Island:
Deer Island:
Diamond Island:
Duck Blind Island:
Fish Bladder Island:
Four Brothers Islands:
Garden Island – Charlotte, Vermont:
Garden Island – Peru, New York:
Gardiner Island:
Gondola Island:
Gull Island:
Harbor Island:
Hen Island:
Hog Island:
Hogback Island:
Ile Aux Branches:
Ile Aux Noix:
Ile de l’Hopital:
Isle La Motte:
Johnson Island:
Juniper Island: Juniper Island is a 13-acre island in Lake Champlain, approximately 3.15-mile southwest of Burlington, Vermont
Kellogg Island (Kibbe Island):
Kibbe Island:
Knight Island:
Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC): is comprised of six islands owned by the State of New York and managed collectively.
Lapham Island:
Law Island:
Lazy Lady Island:
Long Point Island:
Maple Bend Island:
Marble Island:
Meach Island:
Metcalfe Island:
Mosquito Island:
Mud Island:
Mudgett Island:
Noak’s Island:
North Hero Island:
Odzihozo:
Pickett Island:
Popasquash Island:
Providence Island:
Queneska Island:
Rock Dunder:
Rock Island – Panton, Vermont:
Rock Island – Saint Albans, Vermont:
Savage Island:
Sawyer Island:
Schuyler Island:
Shad Island:
Sheepshead Island:
Ship Point:
Signal Buoy Island: One of six islands owned by the State of New York and managed as LCMCI.
Sloop Island:
South Hero Island:
Stave Island:
Sunset Island:
Three Sisters: A small group of islands just northwest of Grand Isle (island):
Upper Fish Bladder Island:
Valcour Island:
White’s Island:
Whitney Island:
Wood’s Island:
Young Island:

• Upper Fish Bladder Island – Lake Champlain Islands
• Fish Bladder Island – Lake Champlain Islands
• Cloak Island – Lake Champlain Islands
• Four Brothers Islands – Lake Champlain Islands
• Gunboat Island – Lake Champlain Islands
• Cole Island – Lake Champlain Islands
• Cedar Island – Lake Champlain Islands
• Schuyler Island – Lake Champlain Islands