Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge is a 13450 acres (5,443 ha) U.S. National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...

 located in northwestern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. It is located in Moffat County

Moffat County, Colorado

Moffat County is the northwesternmost and the second most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 13,184 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Craig.- History :...

 in the extreme northwestern corner of the state, in an isolated mountain valley of Browns Park on both sides of the Green River

Green River (Utah)

The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The watershed of the river, known as the Green River Basin, covers parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The Green River is long, beginning in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and flowing...

, approximately 25 miles (40.2 km) below Flaming Gorge Dam

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Flaming Gorge Reservoir is a reservoir in Wyoming and Utah, on the Green River, created by Flaming Gorge Dam. Construction on the dam began in 1958 and was completed in 1964...

. Established in 1965, the refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

 office in Maybell, Colorado

Maybell, Colorado

Maybell is an unincorporated town and a U.S. Post Office in Moffat County, Colorado, United States. The Maybell Post Office has the ZIP Code 81640.The lowest temperature ever recorded in the state of Colorado was -61°F at Maybell on February 1, 1985....

. The refuge is approximately 53 miles (85.3 km) northwest of Maybell on State Highway 318

Colorado State Highway 318

-Route description:SH 318 runs , starting north of the Green River in an isolated area known as Browns Park. It connects at the Utah state line with gravel surfaced Brown's Park Road. The highway runs southeast, passing Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge and continuing southeast when the Green...

. The refuge consists of bottomland and adjacent benchland. The western border of the refuge is the Colorado-Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 state line. The refuge is surrounded by adjacent lines of the Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...

. The refuge contains the site of the former Fort Davy Crockett constructed in 1837 to protect trappers

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

 against attacks by Blackfoot

Blackfoot

The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....

 Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

.

Description

The acquisition of the refuge lands was approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission

Migratory Bird Conservation Act

The Migratory Bird Conservation Act of February 18, 1929, created the United States Migratory Bird Conservation Commission to consider and approve any areas of land and/or water recommended by the Secretary of the Interior for purchase or rental by the U.S...

 on August 20, 1963 in order to develop and manage waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 habitat in that portion of Browns Park within the state of Colorado. The private land was purchased with funds from the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act. The first tract of private land was acquired on July 13, 1965. As of 2005, 5356 acres (2,167.5 ha) have been purchased at a cost of $622,976, 6794 acres (2,749.4 ha) have been withdrawn from public domain lands, and 1305 acres (528.1 ha) are leased from the state of Colorado (state school sections). There is one private inholding

Inholding

An inholding is privately owned land inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar publicly owned, protected area...

 on the refuge, a 200 acres (80.9 ha) tract of grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

 and cottonwood groves located at the southeast end of the refuge.

The primary purpose of the refuge is to provide high quality nest

Nest

A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...

ing and migration

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

 habitat for the Great Basin

Great Basin

The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...

 Canada Goose

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....

, duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

s and other migratory birds. Before the construction of Flaming Gorge Dam in 1962, the Green River flooded annually, creating excellent waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 nesting, feeding and resting marshes in the backwater slough

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

s and old stream meander

Meander

A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...

s. The dam stopped the flooding, eliminating much of this waterfowl habitat. Pumping from the Green River, along with water diverted from Beaver and Vermillion Creeks, now maintains nine marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

 units comprising approximately 1430 acres (578.7 ha). The river covers approximately 1000 acres (404.7 ha) along with sedimentary river bottomlands. Well vegetated grasslands interspersed with cottonwood, willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

s, salt cedar, greasewood

Greasewood

Greasewood, Sarcobatus, is a genus of one or two species of flowering plants. Traditionally it has been treated in the family Chenopodiaceae, but the APG II system, of 2003, places it in the family Sarcobataceae....

 and sage

Sagebrush

Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...

 cover approximately 5000 acres (2,023.4 ha). The remainder of the refuge (6000 acres or 2,428.1 ha) is alluvial benchlands and steep rocky mountain slopes. Elevations vary from 5355 to 6200 ft (1,632.2 to 1,889.8 ) above sea level.

The refuge is home to approximately 200 species of birds at various times of the year. Nesting birds in the refuge include mallard

Mallard

The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....

s, redhead

Redhead (duck)

The Redhead is a medium-sized diving duck, 37 cm long with an 84 cm wingspan.The adult male has a blue bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, yellow eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a darker bluish bill with a black tip.The breeding habitat is...

s, teal

Green-winged Teal

The Green-winged Teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Common Teal The Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of...

, canvasback

Canvasback

The Canvasback is the largest of the North American diving ducks, that ranges from between long and weighs approximately , with a wingspan of . The canvasback has a distinctive wedge-shaped head and long graceful neck. The adult male has a black bill, a chestnut red head and neck, a black...

s, other ducks, and Canada geese. About 300 gosling

Gosling

Gosling might refer to*A young goose*Gosling *Henry Gosling Prize, awarded to young European artists*Gosling Emacs, an Emacs implementation*Gosling's Rum, a brand of Bermuda rumPeople with the surname Gosling:...

s and 2,500 ducklings hatch annually. The waterfowl population swells by thousands during the spring and fall migrations. Bald eagle

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

s frequent the refuge during the winter. Golden eagle

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

s and peregrine falcon

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

s are seen soaring over the refuge during spring and summer. Bird watching is available at several locations in habitats ranging from semi-arid sage brush to lush wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s and cottonwood stands adjacent to the Green River.

The Refuge is also home to mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 species such as deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

, pronghorn antelope, and an occasional bighorn sheep

Bighorn Sheep

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...

, especially during moderate or severe winters. Moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

 are found in the wet, riparian areas during the spring, summer and fall. Deer and elk are commonly seen anywhere on the refuge during moderate to severe winters. River otter use the Green River and refuge wetlands year round.