Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge is a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
National Wildlife Refuge located in southern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. The refuge is located in the
San Luis Valley south of the town of
Monte Vista, Colorado
The City of Monte Vista is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,245 at the 2020 Census.
History
Monte Vista was laid out in 1884. The site h ...
in southeastern
Rio Grande County, Colorado, in the watershed of the
Rio Grande. It was established in 1953 by the
Migratory Bird Conservation Commission to provide a habitat for wildlife, particularly
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...
, in the San Luis Valley.
Description and history
The site was historically an
agricultural area and thus water is intensively managed on the refuge, especially in comparison to the nearby Alamosa refuge.
Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
includes numerous
dikes
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes ...
and other water control structures that provide water to a patchwork of diverse
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
habitats ranging from shallow wet meadows to open water. The refuge includes
Artesian wells, pumped wells and irrigation canals, some dating to the "ditch boom" of the 1880s. The refuge is a major stopover for migrating greater
sandhill crane
The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...
s moving between their wintering area around
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
and breeding grounds in the northern United States and southern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Up to 20,000 cranes pass through in the spring and again in the fall. Three remaining endangered
whooping crane
The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...
s from a failed attempt to establish a wild migratory population in the 1980s can be seen migrating with their foster species, the sandhill crane. Beginning in the 1980s, a herd of
elk began using the refuge. At present, several hundred elk may be seen on the refuge seeking winter food and sanctuary from hunting pressure on nearby public lands.
References
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National Wildlife Refuges in Colorado
Protected areas of Rio Grande County, Colorado
Protected areas established in 1953
Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area
Wetlands of Colorado
Landforms of Alamosa County, Colorado
Landforms of Rio Grande County, Colorado