Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Map of the United States | |
Location | Jasper County, Jones County, Georgia, United States |
Nearest city | Forsyth, Georgia |
Coordinates | 33°07′31″N 83°44′59″W / 33.12528°N 83.74972°W |
Area | 35,000 acres (140 km2) |
Established | 1939 |
Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Website | Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge |
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge is a 35,000-acre (140 km2) National Wildlife Refuge established in 1939 and located in central Georgia.
Geology
With respect to geologic setting, the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge consists primarily of metamorphic rocks.
Ecology
The Refuge is primarily an upland forest dominated by
The red-cockaded woodpecker, a native bird of the southern US, is an endangered species because the older age pine forests it requires for nesting and roosting have been cleared throughout most of its range. The Refuge currently has 50 active family groups. Prescribed burning and thinning are two forest management practices used to provide habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker. Many migratory bird species, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and other native wildlife benefit from these management practices. The diversity of habitats provides a haven for over 200 species of birds, including many species of neotropical songbirds, and 50 species of mammals.
Human History
During the early 19th century the European settlers arrived in abundance and began to clear the land to plant a variety of crops. The settlers removed more than 90% of the forest. The continuous planting of cotton caused serious erosion and soil infertility. By the late 1870s they had abandoned more than a third of the land because the land could not sustain crops.
With the combination of soil infertility, the
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.