Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Wetlands at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge looking out from the 40 ft observation tower.
Map showing the location of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
Map of the United States
Location Aransas, Calhoun, Refugio counties, Texas, United States
Nearest city Austwell, Texas
Coordinates 28°16′00″N 96°49′00″W / 28.26667°N 96.81667°W / 28.26667; -96.81667Coordinates: 28°16′00″N 96°49′00″W / 28.26667°N 96.81667°W / 28.26667; -96.81667
Area 114,657 acres (464.00 km2)
Established 1937
Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 114,657 acre (464 km2)[1] protected area situated on the southwest side of San Antonio Bay along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Texas. It is located in parts of Aransas, Refugio, and Calhoun counties. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was established by Executive Order 7784 on 31 December 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1940 changing the name to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.[2]

In October 1938, Civilian Conservation Corps Company 880 established camp south of Austwell, Texas. They built roads, ditches, firebreaks, and the residence facilities for the refuge. They constructed part of the spillway for Burgentine Lake, which serves as a major resting area for migratory waterfowl. They also graded the road to Austwell.[3]

Bird life includes ducks, herons, egrets, ibises, roseate spoonbills, and the endangered whooping crane, whose population has recovered significantly since the 1940s.

Other fauna include American alligators, collared peccaries, snakes, and bobcats, which inhabit the refuge's grasslands, blackjack oak thickets, freshwater ponds, and marshes.

See also

References

  1. ↑ USFWS Lands Report, 30 September 2007
  2. ↑ "Proclamation 2416". Wikisource. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, accessed February 12, 2018.
  • McNulty, Faith, The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty, Chap.6 "The Whooping Crane" (pages 121-309), Doubleday 1980 (Chap. 6 was originally published as a book of the same title by E.P. Dutton in 1966). Much of her account deals with the work of Robert Porter Allen.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.


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