Fallon National Wildlife Refuge

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Fallon National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Fallon National Wildlife Refuge snow.jpg
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Map of Nevada
Location Churchill County, Nevada, United States
Nearest city Fallon, Nevada
Coordinates 39°45′09″N118°37′00″W / 39.75241°N 118.61653°W / 39.75241; -118.61653 [1] Coordinates: 39°45′09″N118°37′00″W / 39.75241°N 118.61653°W / 39.75241; -118.61653 [2]
Area 15,000 acres (61 km2)
Established 1931
Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website Fallon National Wildlife Refuge

Fallon National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in western Nevada. It was established in 1931 as a refuge and breeding ground for birds and other wild animals.

National Wildlife Refuge type of federal conservation area in the United States

National Wildlife RefugeSystem is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, the system has grown to over 562 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts encompassing more than 150,000,000 acres (607,028 km2).

Nevada State of the United States of America

Nevada is a state in the Western United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 32nd most populous, but the 9th least densely populated of the U.S. states. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital, however, is Carson City.

The refuge comprises over 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) of playa and wetland habitat in the Carson Sink. This area, in the Lahontan Valley, is at the terminus of the Carson River. In years of high water flows down the river, the refuge is important for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. However, due to diversions, in most years there is not enough flow for the river to even reach the refuge lands.

Dry lake A basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body

A dry lake is either a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappeared when evaporation processes exceeded recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline compounds, it is known as an alkali flat. If covered with salt, it is known as a salt flat.

Wetland A land area that is permanently or seasonally saturated with water

A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is inundated by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil. Wetlands play a number of functions, including water purification, water storage, processing of carbon and other nutrients, stabilization of shorelines, and support of plants and animals. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Whether any individual wetland performs these functions, and the degree to which it performs them, depends on characteristics of that wetland and the lands and waters near it. Methods for rapidly assessing these functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed in many regions and have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions and the ecosystem services some wetlands provide.

Carson Sink dry lake in Churchill County, Nevada, USA

Carson Sink is a playa in the northeastern portion of the Carson Desert that was formerly the terminus of the Carson River. The sink is currently fed by drainage canals of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. The southeastern fringe of the sink where the canals enter is a wetland of the Central Basin and Range ecoregion, which is mostly included within the Fallon National Wildlife Refuge and the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area. This area serves as an important stopover for migrating waterfowl. The Sehoo Formation is in the south of the Carson Sink.

The refuge is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, but there are no facilities on the refuge. Roads are primitive and passable only during those periods of dry weather.

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Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge

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Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

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Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge

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Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge

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References

  1. ↑ "Fallon National Wildlife Refuge". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.
  2. ↑ "Fallon National Wildlife Refuge". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from websites or documents ofthe United States Fish and Wildlife Service .

United States Fish and Wildlife Service US Federal Government agency

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the US Federal Government within the US Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people."

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