Mad Island WMA staff offers tours by appointment only. Designated paths through the levees around the lake and onto Texas Nature Conservancy land along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway offer bird watchers opportunities to observe over 300 species of birds. A checklist of birds recorded in the area is available at the entrance. of birds. A checklist of birds recorded in the area is available at the entrance.

The Mad Island Wildlife Management Area was purchased with waterfowl stamp funds in 1987 to preserve coastal wetland habitat for wintering waterfowl. Conservation tours are scheduled during the year for visitors to observe hundreds of bird species along the Texas coast. The 7,200 acres consists of fresh, intermediate, brackish, and saline marsh land with sparse brush and flat coastal prairie. Wildlife includes puddle and diver ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, alligators, white-tailed deer, bobcat, coyote, gray fox raccoon, skunk, opossum, armadillo. Many species of wading birds and shore birds as well as many species of neo-tropical migrants can be found on the management area throughout the year. Reptiles and amphibians such as western diamondback rattlesnakes, box turtles, and bullfrogs are commonly found throughout the marshes and prairies of the WMA. Hunting for alligators, feral hogs and waterfowl are permitted through special scheduled hunts.