Hovey Lake Fish & Wildlife Area is a unique natural area nestled in the Ohio River and Wabash River floodplains in extreme southwest Indiana. Hovey Lake FWA covers approximately 7,404 acres and features a 1,400 acre oxbow lake, other smaller sloughs, marshes and extensive bottomland hardwood forests. Hovey Lake is dedicated to providing and maintaining quality hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching opportunities. The land presently called Hovey Lake FWA has a long history. It was ceded to the state in treaties of 1803 and 1809 and was designated as swampland. The land was then granted to the Wabash and Erie Canal Company. During the 1880s it became the property of Charles J. Hovey. The Indiana Division of Fish & Wildlife began acquiring this property in 1939. Additional lands were acquired at other times through purchase or lease from the Army Corps of Engineers. (https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3092.htm)