The Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge is a 5,484 acre (22 km²) wildlife refuge in

Crittenden County, Arkansas Crittenden County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 50,902. The county seat is Marion, and the largest city is West Memphis. Located in the Arkansas Delta, Crittenden County is Ar ...

, managed by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

. Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1961 from land acquired from the former "Wapanocca Outing Club" which was a prestigious hunting club formed in 1886. The refuge is located 3 miles (5 km) west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

near the city of

Turrell, Arkansas Turrell is a city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 517. Geography Turrell is located in northern Crittenden County at (35.376351, -90.264583). It is bordered by the town of Gilmore to the ...

. The refuge was once a bend in the Mississippi River. It is a migration stopover for warblers and other neo-tropical birds. The refuge is host to the blue heron, and the common egret as well as the bald eagle. The refuge is a major stopover on the

Mississippi Flyway The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of ...

. Wapanocca consists of 600 acres (2.4 km²) of open water, 1,800 acres (7 km²) of swampland, 500 acres (2.0 km²) of bottomland hardwood, 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) of cropland, and 400 acres (1.6 km²) of grassland.

References

External links

Crittenden County Open Portal Website

Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge
Protected areas of Crittenden County, Arkansas National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas Wetlands of Arkansas Landforms of Crittenden County, Arkansas 1961 establishments in Arkansas Protected areas established in 1961 {{Arkansas-protected-area-stub