Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge
Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in east Marshall County in northwestern Minnesota . It was established in 1937 as the Mud Lake Migratory Waterfowl Refuge , renamed in 1961 and covers an area of approximately 249 km² (61,500 acres). In 1976 an area of 16 km² (4000 acres) was placed under the protection status of " Wilderness Area ".
The nature reserve lies in the transition between the Prairie Pothole region and the coniferous forest zone in the Aspen Parkland region and in the area of the prehistoric Agassizsee . It is an important reserve for breeding and migratory birds; 294 bird and 49 mammal species have been identified here. Among the latter are several packs of wolves and elk . The area receives up to 20,000 visitors annually. The park administration has eleven employees.
The area consists of 151 km² of wetlands, 47 km² of scrubland, 40 km² of forest, 7 km² of grass steppe and 0.6 km² of arable land. together It houses one of the westernmost swamp locations with mixed stands of black spruce and East American larch . The two moor lakes Kuriko Lake and Whiskey Lake are located in the area of the nature reserve .
Prior to 1994, the area was home to 10,000–40,000 breeding pairs of the prairie gull . In 2007 and 2008 a large part of the nests fell victim to predators and the colonies were abandoned.
Web links
- Information page at the US Fish and Wildlife Service , accessed 12 February 2012
- Area website at the US Fish and Wildlife Service / Midwest Region , accessed February 12, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joanna Burger, Michael Gochfeld: Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan) in The Birds of North America Online , A. Poole, Ed., Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca 2009, doi : 10.2173 / bna.116
Coordinates: 48 ° 20 ′ 59.9 ″ N , 95 ° 57 ′ 1 ″ W.