San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex is managed by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service and is composed of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge and the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area which consists of nearly 45,000 acres (180 km2) of wetlands, grasslands and riparian habitats, as well as over 90,000 acres (360 km2) of conservation easements on private lands for the protection and benefit of wildlife. The refuge units are located in the northern San Joaquin Valley of California in Merced and Stanislaus Counties. The Complex is Headquarter out of Los Banos, California and uses the Sierra National Forest Emergency Communication Center located in Fresno, California for Emergency dispatch.

The Complex is located within the Pacific Flyway, a major route for migrating birds, including waterfowl. The extensive wetlands of the Complex and surrounding lands provide habitat for up to a million waterfowl that arrive here each winter. Of the 30 species of waterfowl using the Complex, the most common include Ross's Geese, Aleutian Cackling Geese, Snow Geese, Green-winged Teal, Mallards, Northern Pintails, Gadwalls, American Wigeons, Northern Shovelers, and Greater White-fronted Geese.

The Complex is an integral part of a mosaic of federal, state, and private lands in Merced County that together constitute the largest contiguous freshwater wetlands remaining in California. This area has been recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, an Audubon Important Bird Area, and as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site.

Read more about San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex:  San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, Grasslands Wildlife Management Area

Famous quotes containing the words san, luis, national, wildlife, refuge and/or complex:

    It is an odd thing, but every one who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    The truth is that we live out our lives putting off all that can be put off; perhaps we all know deep down that we are immortal and that sooner or later all men will do and know all things.
    —Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)

    Maybe it’s understandable what a history of failures America’s foreign policy has been. We are, after all, a country full of people who came to America to get away from foreigners. Any prolonged examination of the U.S. government reveals foreign policy to be America’s miniature schnauzer—a noisy but small and useless part of the national household.
    —P.J. (Patrick Jake)

    Russian forests crash down under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the habitations of animals and birds are layed waste, rivers grow shallow and dry up, marvelous landscapes are disappearing forever.... Man is endowed with creativity in order to multiply that which has been given him; he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, rivers are drying up, wildlife has become extinct, the climate is ruined, and the earth is becoming ever poorer and uglier.
    Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)

    Curiosity, easily frightened, takes refuge in puzzles, murder mysteries, and spectator sports.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    The human mind is so complex and things are so tangled up with each other that, to explain a blade of straw, one would have to take to pieces an entire universe.... A definition is a sack of flour compressed into a thimble.
    Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)