Known as the last great habitat in south Texas, the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) supports a diversity of wildlife unlike anywhere else in the United States.
A dense entanglement of thorns, home to the endangered ocelot, eases its way into an open prairie landscape where white-tailed deer can be found browsing. A look above often produces a silhouette of an aplomado falcon on the hunt. In the fall, a million redhead ducks can be seen replenishing themselves on the fresh waters of the Laguna Atascosa, for which the Refuge was named. Across the mainland, over the Laguna Madre and onto South Padre Island, the Laguna Atascosa NWR provides important habitat for nesting sea turtles, clapper rails, blue crab, and many other species.
Established in 1946, the 88,000 acre Refuge is home to more documented species of birds than any other National Wildlife Refuge in the United States.
The Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge has released its Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for public comment. The CCP/EA directs refuge management for the next 15 years. It determines the long-term guidance for management decisions and sets forth goals, objectives and strategies needed to accomplish refuge purposes. It helps establish the Service's best estimate of future needs for the refuge. Public meetings are being held in Harlingen, Port Isabel, Raymondville and Brownsville. The public will be able to provide comments regarding the management of the refuge at these meetings. Those unable to attend any of the meetings can obtains copies of the plan at the Visitor Center of the Laguna Atascosa NWR; the Visitor Center of Santa Ana NWR; and the following public libraries: Brownsville, Harlingen, Laguna Vista, Los Fresnos, Port Isabel, Rio Hondo, San Benito and the Willacy County Reber Memorial Library in Raymondville. Comments can also be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwest Region Planning Team in one of three ways: 1.) E-mailed to: mark_sprick@fws.gov 2.) Mailed to: Mark Sprick, AICP Planning Team Leader U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Planning P.O. Box 1306 Albuquerque, NM 87103 3.) Or phoned into Mark Sprick at (505)248-7411 For more information regarding the CCP and public meetings, please contact Mari Ybarra at (956)748-3607.
Santa Ana NWR Laguna Atascosa NWR Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR
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