Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge
Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Location | Jackson County, Alabama, United States |
Nearest city | Paint Rock, Alabama |
Coordinates | 34°38′56″N 86°17′52″W / 34.648982°N 86.297865°W |
Area | 199.23 acres (0.8 km2)[1] |
Established | 1981 |
Visitors | 1,200 (in 2005) |
Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Website | Fern Cave NWR |
Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge is a 199-acre (0.8 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in northeastern Alabama, near Paint Rock, Alabama in Jackson County.
Despite receiving more than 1,200 visitors per year, the facility is unstaffed; it is administered by the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Decatur, Alabama.
Topography
Most of the Fern Cave NWR is on the western side of Nat Mountain between Scottsboro and Huntsville, Alabama. The Paint Rock River, a tributary of the Tennessee River borders the northwestern side of the refuge. Elevation ranges from the relative flat area around the Paint Rock River valley to a 1,500+ foot elevation at the top of the mountain.
Fern Cave
Fern Cave NWR is named after the eponymous cave located in the region; in it, explorers found an abundance of American
Fern Cave itself is described as a "vertical and horizontal maze". There are 12 different levels connected by canyons and pits. The cave is approximately 15 miles (24 km) long and the system is 450 feet (140 m) deep. The cave remains very inaccessible. At least one experienced caver has died in the cave.
There are five entrances to the cave, with only four of them being within the Fern Cave NWR. The fifth entrance is owned by the
Wildlife
Fern Cave serves as a home to the largest colony of federally endangered
Approximately 200 species of animals use the refuge. Other than the endangered bats, the cave contains
Facilities
Fern Cave is not open to the public in order to protect the endangered bats and ferns that reside within. The remaining portion of the Refuge is open to the public, although its use is limited due to the rugged topography.
There are opportunities for hiking, photography, and wildlife observation (such as bats) at the refuge. Even though the bats leave the cave nightly for food, the refuge recommends against viewing the emergence, since the area around the cave entrances is steep and potentially dangerous in the dark; due to this, the park closes around dusk.
Images
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Inside Fern Cave
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Fern Cave NWR
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Fern Cave NWR
See also
References
- ^ "National Wildlife Refuges - Acres by State and Unit" (PDF). US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ Donal R. Myrick, Fern Cave (book), Huntsville, Alabama (1972), 106pp.
- ^ "AMERICAN HART'S-TONGUE FERN, Phyllitis scolopendrium [L.] Newman variety americana Fernal". www.fws.gov. Archived from the original on 2006-09-27.
- ^ Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc.
- ISBN 9780817356477.
- ^ "Disease threatens critical population of gray bats". Los Angeles Times. 8 April 2013.