Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S.

National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

on the lower

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It preserves habitat for wildlife like desert

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

, the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, the threatened Yuma Ridgways Rail and other animals. The refuge protects 30 river miles - of shoreline - from

Needles, California Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the California border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is accessible v ...

, to

Lake Havasu City, Arizona Lake Havasu City (, ) is a city in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,144, up from 52,527 in 2010. It is served by Lake Havasu City Airport. History The community first started du ...

. One of the last remaining natural stretches of the lower Colorado River flows through the

Topock Gorge Topock Gorge is a mountainous canyon and gorge section of the Colorado River, located between Interstate 40 and Lake Havasu. The town of Needles, California, to the northwest, was named for the "needle-like" vertical rock outcroppings. The natural ...

Species

Animal species that inhabit this refuge include

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

desert bighorn sheep The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The ...

greater roadrunner The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along wi ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

, and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

. Thousands of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s emerge from historic mines and

razorback sucker The razorback sucker (''Xyrauchen texanus'') is a suckerfish found in rivers and lakes in the southwestern United States and formerly northwestern Mexico. It can grow to in length and is recognisable by the keel between its head and dorsal fin. ...

s swim in the back of

Mohave Valley Lake Mojave or Mohave most often refers to: *Mojave Desert *Mojave River *Mohave people *Mojave language *Mohave County, Arizona, a county in the U.S. state of Arizona Mojave or Mohave may also refer to: Places * Fort Mojave Indian Reservation * Moha ...

Support

A large river in a dry, hot land attracts wildlife and people like a powerful magnet. Many millions 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. A

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

membership organization supports and advocates for the refuge. It assists refuge staff with several of the refuge annual events, help to obtain grants to support refuge projects, conducts fund-raising activities to support environmental education programs, and helps the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

operate and maintain the refuge facilities and programs by providing volunteer labor.

Locations

Five Mile Landing

To aid visitors to the Colorado River, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had previously allowed a private concessioner to operate a boat launch, canoe rental, campsite, RV site, and a store in the refuge at Five-Mile Landing, a site with boat ramps at Topock Marsh in the northern part of the refuge.

Topock Marsh

The Topock Marsh is one of the larger birding sites found in the Lower

Valley, between

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

and the

Colorado River Delta The Colorado River Delta is the region where the Colorado River once flowed into the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) in eastern Mexicali Municipality in the north of the state of Baja California, in northwestern Mexico. The ...

Catfish Paradise

Catfish Paradise is an area located at the southern end of the Topock Marsh. Many species living in the area include

Bullfrogs ''Bullfrog'' is a common English language term to refer to large, aggressive frogs, regardless of species. Examples of bullfrogs include: Frog species Americas *Helmeted water toad (''Calyptocephalella gayi''), endemic to Chile *American bullf ...

Carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

, Sunfish, Catfish (Channel),

Crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...

Largemouth Bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

, and

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically mos ...

References

External links

*
Friends of the Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges

{{authority control Lower Colorado River Valley National Wildlife Refuges in Arizona National Wildlife Refuges in California Protected areas of Mohave County, Arizona Protected areas of San Bernardino County, California Protected areas of the Colorado Desert Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of the Sonoran Desert Protected areas on the Colorado River Wilderness areas within the Lower Colorado River Valley