Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

Necedah National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)

Map showing the location of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

Map of the United States

Location Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States
Nearest city Necedah, Wisconsin
Coordinates 44°07′00″N 90°10′00″W / 44.11667°N 90.16667°W / 44.11667; -90.16667Coordinates: 44°07′00″N 90°10′00″W / 44.11667°N 90.16667°W / 44.11667; -90.16667
Area 43,696 acres (176.83 km2)
Established 1939
Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Necedah/

Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is a 43,696-acre (177 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in northern Juneau County, Wisconsin near the village of Necedah. It was established in 1939 and is famous as the northern nesting site for reintroduction of an eastern United States population of the endangered whooping crane. Other threatened or rare species at the site include the Karner blue butterfly, massasauga rattlesnake, Blanding's turtle, and gray wolf. Refuge operations are largely funded through timber sales.

Wildlife at Necedah. Clockwise from top: sandhill crane, eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, white tailed deer, canvasback duck, Blanding's turtle, wild turkey, largemouth bass, and a bald cypress swamp. Center: Nelumbo lutea, the American lotus.

In 2001, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership raised whooping cranes (Grus americana) chicks in the refuge then guided them to Florida's Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, utilizing ultra-light aircraft to teach the birds the migratory pathway. That population has been successful and by 2010 there were up to 105 migrating birds established in the eastern United States for the first time in over 100 years.[1]

In most years the refuge is also an important stopover for migratory waterfowl on the Mississippi Flyway.

Refuge facts

Sign

See also

References

  1. Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership December 2010 Project Update (Report). Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. December 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-09.

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

External links

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