Feb 22, 2012
The Anahuac Progress in Texas recently published an article on the annual meeting of the Friends of Anahuac Refuge.
The Friends of Anahuac Refuge held their annual meeting a couple weeks ago at the new visitor’s center on FM 563. There was a good sized crowd of interested persons attending the meeting, who were served [...]
Posted in Friends, Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Feb 01, 2012
Several national wildlife refuges (and related lands) currently have Bald Eagle Cams that will be beaming live images of eaglets now that nesting season is upon us. Blackwater National Wildlife in Maryland has two eggs in their Eagle Cam nest, which sits 80 feet up in a loblolly pine tree at the refuge.
The National Conservation [...]
Posted in Northeast Region, Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Jan 24, 2012
News-Journal.com in Texas reports that the land/water transfer between the Army and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Texas is still on hold, four months after the parties last met.
The Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant is a federal Superfund pollution site, and the USFWS wants assurances that the Army will [...]
Posted in Congress, Southwest Region by: RefugeWatch
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Dec 14, 2011
NewOK.com reports that nearly half of Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge’s 59,020 acres in Oklahoma were burned in an early September fire.
“In the long term, we’ll be fine,” said Tony Booth, refuge manager. “In the short term, we’ll just have to wait and see. There are just so many variables. In fact, we have [...]
Posted in Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Dec 06, 2011
San Antonio Express News reports that a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expert has been required to testify in a lawsuit brought by The Aransas Project, which claims that the state of Texas has failed to keep enough fresh water flowing into bays and estuaries to allow endangered whooping cranes to survive.
The Justice Department [...]
Posted in Endangered Species, Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Nov 29, 2011
Seattlepi.com reports that ravaged wetlands and crops throughout Texas and New Mexico are waiting for migratory cranes, geese, and ducks that are making their way south for the winter season.
Buffalo Lake and Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuges are seeing a decrease in birds due to drought conditions:
“I don’t know where our birds are going,” said [...]
Posted in Climate Change, Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Oct 14, 2011
PulteGroup Inc recently announced that the PulteGroup Land Legacy Fund, working in partnership with The Conservation Fund, has acquired 2,500 acres of East Texas forest that will be given to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to become part of the new Neches River National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
Home to the bobcat and the near-threatened [...]
Posted in Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Sep 30, 2011
The Environment News Service reports that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced in Albuquerque that 570 acres have been acquired to establish a national wildlife refuge along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque, which will make it New Mexico’s first urban refuge.
The current owners of the former Price’s Dairy Farm were interested in [...]
Posted in Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Sep 14, 2011
The Center for Biological Diversity criticized an analysis by the Department of Homeland Security that proposes tripling the size of the Border Patrol’s base in the desert.
“In its slipshod analysis of the impacts of tripling the size of its forward operating base near Organ Pipe National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Homeland Security [...]
Posted in Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Jun 20, 2011
The Monitor in Texas reports that Rio Grande waterholes have dried up and are creating a tough climate for wildlife at places like Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas:
Jody Mays is a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Los Fresnos. She has witnessed the drought’s effect [...]
Posted in Endangered Species, Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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May 31, 2011
The Arizona Daily Star reports that refuge management at the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona has stated it will begin issuing permits to “street legal” motorcycles and ATVs in July for use at the refuge.
Cabeza Prieta Manager Sid Slone said a 2007 management plan that authorized these vehicles meant that “I had [...]
Posted in Endangered Species, Southwest Region, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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Mar 28, 2011
Have you ever heard of crystal digging at the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma?
Below the plains, ground water travels through the salt-saturated sand and comes to the surface where it evaporates, leaving the crust of salt. The concentrated saline solution combines with gypsum to promote selenite crystal growth in a portion of [...]
Posted in Southwest Region, Video Monday, Wildlife Refuges by: RefugeWatch
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