Havasu National Wildlife Refuge

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Mohave County, Arizona / San Bernardino County, California, USA
Nearest city	Needles, California
Coordinates
Area	37,515 acres (151.82 km2)
Established	1941
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/arizona/havasu/

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. It preserves habitat for desert bighorn sheep to the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, birds and other animals. The refuge protects 30 river miles - 300 miles (480 km) of shoreline - from Needles, California, to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. One of the last remaining natural stretches of the lower Colorado River flows through the 20-mile-long (32 km) Topock Gorge.

A large river in a dry, hot land attracts wildlife and people like a powerful magnet. Many thousands of visitors annually flock to the refuge to boat through the Topock Gorge, watch waterbirds in Topock Marsh, or hike to the Havasu Wilderness Area.

The Friends of the Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges is a non-profit membership organization that supports and advocates for the Refuges. They assist Refuge Staff with several of the refuge annual events, strive to obtain grants to support refuge projects, conduct fund-raising activities to support environmental education programs, and help the Fish and Wildlife Service operate and maintain the refuge facilities and programs by providing volunteer labor.

References

• Refuge profile
• Refuge website

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

• Friends of the Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges
• Havasu National Wildlife Refuge website
• Bird Checklist for Havasu National Wildlife Refuge
• Sonoran Desert topics index