Bon Secour NWR Bon Secour NWR, in Baldwin and Mobile counties Alabama, was established in 1979 to protect a unique parcel of land along the Alabama Gulf Coast. The Refuge is divided into five separate units along the Fort Morgan Peninsula and Little Dauphin Island. Habitats include beach, scrub dunes, fresh and saltwater marshes, Maritime forest and open freshwater. These habitats serve as important stop over and staging areas for many species of neotropical migrants. Additionally the endangered Alabama beach mouse makes its home on two refuge units. Other Threatened and Endangered species that may be found here include; Bald eagle loggerhead and green sea turtles, piping plover and peregrine falcons. Resident species that occur include raccoon, opossum, red fox, bobcat and many amphibians and reptiles.
Choctaw NWR The Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge is located in southwest Alabama along the Tombigbee River approximately 80 miles north of Mobile. It is comprised of 4,218 acres of bottomland hardwood swamp and backwater sloughs. Included in this acreage is the 35-acre Water Tupelo Research Natural Area and approximately 160 acres of croplands and moist soil units. The refuge provides wintering habitat to 5000-12,000 waterfowl annually. In addition, 400 nesting boxes provide important wood duck brood habitat. The bottomland hardwoods and crop units provide nesting areas and food for numerous neo-tropical migratory birds. Resident game animals such as white-tailed deer, turkey, and squirrels abound. A bald eagle nest has been active on the refuge for the past 8 years. The heat of the summer also brings 15-20 wood storks that feed in the refuge back waters.
Eufaula NWR The Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1964, on the Walter F. George Reservoir. Locally called Lake Eufaula, it was formed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impounding the Chattahoochee River. The Refuge, located 40 miles south of Columbus, Georgia, consists of 11,184 acres with more than 4,200 in open water. The boundary includes portions of Alabama (7,953 acres in Barbour and Russell counties) and Georgia (3,231 acres in Stewart and Quitman counties). Presently, the Refuge manages an additional 21 Farmers Home tracts in SE Alabama and SW Georgia. This adds 1,675 acres to the refuge's management program.Habitat types include riparian areas, seasonally manipulated wetland impoundments, upland old fields, agricultural fields, hedge rows, pine and hardwood uplands, and hardwood bottom lands. Management provides habitat for migratory waterfowl, brood habitat for wood ducks, and promotes a diversity of flora and fauna including endangered and threatened species, resident species and neotropical migrant birds. At times there are an abundance of sand islands, spits and sandbars in the lake.
Fern Cave NWR Fern Cave NWR is located two miles north of Paint Rock, Alabama. The Refuge borders Paint Rock River on the south and consists of upland hardwoods and limestone rock out crops. The cave has five hidden entrances and is critical habitat for endangered gray and Indiana bats. Over a million gray bats hibernate in Fern Cave, as do several hundred endangered Indiana bats. Fern Cave also has the threatened American hart's tongue fern at one of its entrances.Â
Grand Bay NWR The Marsh and openwater habitats on the southern portion of the refuge support a rich fishery and serve as a wintering area for migratory waterfowl. This refuge also contains the largest expanse of undisturbed wetland pine savanna habitat along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Surveys using high altitude infrared photography have identified the Grand Bay savanna as the last and largest remnant of this formerly prominent wetland pine savanna ecosystem. The Grand Bay area is recognized as a significant Wildlife Resource Area by the State of Mississippi (Mississippi Protection Planning Committee) as well as one of the Nature Conservancy's "Last Great Places".
Great Falls Lake This 3,080 acre lake is located in Warren County, Tennessee. Constructed in 1915 by the Tennessee Electric Power Company and later acquired by TVA, Great Falls is one of the oldest dams in the TVA system. A scenic waterfall and whitewater boating opportunities make the waters below Great Falls powerhouse a popular spot for recreation.
