The Ramsar designation at Caddo Lake is approximately 20,000 acres and includes the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area and portions of the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

The portions of the refuge included in the Ramsar designation are comprised of the bottomland hardwoods associated with Harrison Bayou on the south-southeastern side of the refuge.

The Caddo Lake Institute, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, was instrumental in establishing the Ramsar Wetlands at Caddo Lake. The Caddo Lake Coalition, assisted by generous grants from the Caddo Lake Institute and the City of Marshall, Texas, obtained the historic Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Guardhouse and moved it to the visitors complex where it was given a new life greeting refuge visitors and deepening their understanding of the importance and value of wetlands at Caddo Lake and throughout the world.