Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge

Last updated

Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Little Pend Oreille NWR snow.jpg
USA Washington location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, Washington, United States
Nearest city Colville, Washington
Coordinates 48°27′44″N117°39′19″W / 48.46222°N 117.65528°W / 48.46222; -117.65528 [1]
Area42,593.57 acres (172.3701 km2) [2]
Established1939 [3]
Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge

The Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve, one of the national wildlife refuges operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge is located east of Colville, Washington, along the west slope of the Selkirk Mountain Range. It lies mostly in eastern Stevens County, with a small part extending eastward into western Pend Oreille County. It is the only mountainous, mixed-conifer forest refuge outside Alaska [4] and the largest in Washington state.

Contents

Wildlife found in the refuge include numerous songbirds, bald eagles, elk, black bears, timber wolves, cougars, moose, beavers, and white-tailed deer.

Public uses include hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and horseback riding. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pend Oreille County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

Pend Oreille County is a county located in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Washington, along the Canada–US border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,401. The county seat and largest city is Newport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandpoint, Idaho</span> City in Idaho, United States

Sandpoint is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 9,777 as of the 2022 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Newport is a city in and the county seat of Pend Oreille County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,114 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Washington</span> Geographical region in Washington, US

Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane, the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the fertile farmlands of the Yakima Valley and the Palouse. Unlike in Western Washington, the climate is dry, including some desert environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pend Oreille River</span> River, tributary of the Columbia

The Pend Oreille River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 130 miles (209 km) long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbia its name is spelled Pend-d'Oreille River. It drains a scenic area of the Rocky Mountains along the U.S.-Canada border on the east side of the Columbia. The river is sometimes defined as the lower part of the Clark Fork, which rises in western Montana. The river drains an area of 66,800 square kilometres (25,792 sq mi), mostly through the Clark Fork and its tributaries in western Montana and including a portion of the Flathead River in southeastern British Columbia. The full drainage basin of the river and its tributaries accounts for 43% of the entire Columbia River Basin above the confluence with the Columbia. The total area of the Pend Oreille basin is just under 10% of the entire 258,000-square-mile (670,000 km2) Columbia Basin. Box Canyon Dam is currently underway on a multimillion-dollar project for a fish ladder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Pend Oreille</span> Lake in Kootenai and Bonner counties in Idaho, United States

Lake Pend Oreille in the northern Idaho Panhandle is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Idaho and the 38th-largest lake by area in the United States, with a surface area of 148 square miles (380 km2). It is 69 kilometres (43 mi) long, and 1,152 feet (351 m) deep in some regions, making it the fifth-deepest in the nation and having a volume of 43,939,940 acre feet = 54 km3. The lake is fed by the Clark Fork River and the Pack River, and drains into the Pend Oreille River, as well as subsurfacely into the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. It is surrounded by national forests and a few small towns, with the largest population on the lake at Sandpoint. The majority of the shoreline is non-populated and all but the southern tip of the lake is in Bonner County. The southern tip is in Kootenai County and is home to Farragut State Park, formerly the Farragut Naval Training Station during World War II, of which a small part is still active and conducts U.S. Navy acoustic underwater submarine research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colville National Forest</span> U.S. National Forest in northeastern Washington state

The Colville National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington state. It is bordered on the west by the Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest and the Kaniksu National Forest to the east. The forest also borders Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge and the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaniksu National Forest</span> National forest in the northwestern United States

The Kaniksu National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and northwestern Montana. It is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, along with the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and St. Joe National Forest. Kaniksu National Forest has a total area of 1,627,833 acres (6,587.6 km2). About 55.7% is in Idaho, 27.9% in Montana, and 16.4% in Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho Panhandle National Forests</span> National forests in Idaho, United States

The Idaho Panhandle National Forests are a jointly administered set of three national forests located mostly in the U.S. state of Idaho. In 1973, major portions of the Kaniksu, Coeur d'Alene, and St. Joe National Forests were combined to be administratively managed as the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF). The IPNF consists of more than 2.5 million acres (10,000 km2) of public lands in the panhandle of north Idaho, with small areas extending into eastern Washington (4.7%) and western Montana (1.2%). The northernmost portion of the IPNF share a boundary with Canada. The Forest Supervisor's office is located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with district office's in Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, Priest River, Fernan and Smelterville, and St. Maries and Avery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge</span> United States National Wildlife Refuge in Indiana

Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge is a 50,000-acre (202 km2) wildlife refuge operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in southeast Indiana, United States, near Madison, Indiana. The refuge is the largest of Indiana's three National Wildlife Refuges, and is located in parts of Ripley, Jefferson, and Jennings counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primary State Highway 6 (Washington)</span> Former highway in Washington

Primary State Highway 6 (PSH 6) was a Washington state highway in the older primary and secondary system that existed from 1937 until 1964 in Spokane and Pend Oreille counties. The road ran from an intersection with PSH 3, U.S. Route 2 and US 395 in Spokane north to British Columbia Highway 6 (BC 6) at the Canada–US border near Metaline Falls, passing its branch route and two secondary routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Montana</span>

Montana is one of the eight Mountain States, located in the north of the region known as the Western United States. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east. Wyoming is to the south, Idaho is to the west and southwest, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan are to the north, making it the only state to border three Canadian provinces.

McNary National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve, one of the national wildlife refuges operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Extending along the east bank of the Columbia River in southeastern Washington, from the confluence of the Snake River to the mouth of the Walla Walla River, and downstream into Oregon, McNary NWR is located in rural Burbank, but very close to the rapid development of the Tri-Cities. In fact, the refuge meets the definition of an "urban refuge." Few areas in North America support waterfowl populations in the extraordinary numbers found here. There are spectacular concentrations of Canada geese, mallards, and other waterfowl. More than half the mallards in the Pacific Flyway overwinter at some time in this portion of the Columbia River Basin.

The Pierce National Wildlife Refuge is in southwest Washington within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It encompasses wetlands and uplands along the north shore of the Columbia River west of the town of North Bonneville. Refuge habitats include wetlands, Columbia River riparian corridor blocks, transitional woodlands from willows to cottonwood/ash to white oak to Douglas fir, improved pastures with some native grasses, and numerous creeks, seeps, and springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge</span> Protected area in Oregon, United States

Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge is a 3,117-acre (12.61 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located 7 miles (10 km) northeast of Hermiston and 3 miles (5 km) south of the Columbia River in Umatilla County, Oregon; The refuge was established in 1909 as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds. It consists of diverse wetland habitats surrounded by upland habitat of big sagebrush and native steppe grasses. A riparian component of willow and cottonwood provides refuge for birds, mammals, and other animals.

Bayview is an unincorporated community in the northwest United States, located in Kootenai County, Idaho, north of Coeur d'Alene. On the southwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille, Bayview is seven miles (11 km) east-northeast of Athol. The community is served by State Highway 54 and a post office with ZIP code 83803; its approximate elevation is 2,100 feet (640 m) above sea level. Nearby is Farragut State Park, formerly the Farragut Naval Training Station, a major training facility during World War II.

Pend Oreille Wildlife Management Area at 4,908 acres (19.86 km2) is an Idaho wildlife management area in Bonner County near Sandpoint. Much of the land that is now the WMA was licensed to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1956 as mitigation for wildlife habitat impacted by the construction of Albeni Falls Dam. Additional land was purchased in 1974 and three more parcels were licensed in 1996. Acquisitions were completed in 1997 with funds from the Bonneville Power Administration.

Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an administrative grouping of six National Wildlife Refuges in Washington, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It includes:

References

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

  1. "Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "Annual Report of Lands as of September 30, 2013" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
  3. "About the Refuge". Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  4. 1 2 "Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge Profile". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.