Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge, located in

Kossuth County Kossuth County () is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,828. The county seat is Algona, Iowa, Algona. History Kossuth County was founded on January ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, was established in 1938 to provide a refuge and breeding ground for

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 in ...

and other migratory birds. The actual

slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

is all that remains of a pre-glacial riverbed, and its name is derived from the connection or "union" of two watersheds: the

Blue Earth River The Blue Earth River ( dak, Makhátho Wakpá) is a tributary of the Minnesota River, long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. Two of its headwaters tributaries, the Middle Branch Blue Earth River and the West Branch Blue Earth River, a ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and the East Fork of the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

. The terrain is nearly flat, allowing the flow of the water to be determined by the direction of the wind at times. The refuge is on the eastern edge of the

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroach ...

region of the

Northern Great Plains Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, an area known for its agriculture. This refuge surrounded by a sea of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

s provides vital habitat for a variety of plants and animals dependent upon tallgrass prairie and wetland habitats.

References

Profile of Union Slough National Wildlife RefugeRefuge website
{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Iowa Protected areas of Kossuth County, Iowa Protected areas established in 1938 Wetlands of Iowa Landforms of Kossuth County, Iowa 1938 establishments in Iowa