Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

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Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Crab Orchard Lake, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, September 2019
Map of the U.S. state of Illinois showing the location of Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Location	Williamson, Jackson, and Union counties, Illinois, USA
Nearest city	Marion, Illinois
Coordinates	37°42′00″N 89°03′33″W / 37.70000°N 89.05917°W / 37.70000; -89.05917
Area	43,890 acres (177.62 km)
Established	1947
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is a 43,890 acre (180 km) National Wildlife Refuge primarily in southwestern Williamson County, but with small extensions into adjacent eastern Jackson and northeastern Union counties of southern Illinois, in the United States. Its land and water contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna. It centers on Crab Orchard Lake. Major habitat types on the refuge include hardwood forest, agricultural land, grazing units, brushland, wetlands, and lakes. Other major bodies of water on the refuge are Devil's Kitchen Lake and Little Grassy Lake.

Description

The refuge provides significant resting areas for migratory birds utilizing the Mississippi Flyway. Wintering numbers of Canada geese can peak at 200,000. A total of nearly 1000 vascular plant species, 245 bird species, 33 mammal species, 63 fish species, and 44 reptile and amphibian species have been documented on the refuge.

The western 24,000 acres (97 km) of the refuge provide a wide range of recreational opportunities and also include a 4,050 acre (16 km) wilderness area. The eastern portion, 20,000 acres (81 km), is a wildlife sanctuary, and public use is limited.

Annual visitation is approximately 1,000,000 visitors. Industrial activities on the refuge range from manufacturing and storage facilities to administrative offices. Many buildings now housing industries were used in the manufacturing of high explosives during World War II, and they are still used for military ordnance production today. The concrete igloos built for munition storage are now leased to private industry for storage of many types of products.

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is managed with four broad objectives: wildlife management, agriculture, recreation, and industry. The primary wildlife management objective is to satisfy the food and resting needs of wintering Canada geese and other wildlife. This objective is coordinated with the agriculture objective through cooperative farming and permittee grazing programs.

Crab Orchard Wilderness

The Crab Orchard Wilderness, a federally listed 4,050-acre (16.4 km) U.S. wilderness area, occupies the southernmost strip of the National Wildlife Refuge.

Flora

Flora of Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Plant Group	Families	Genera	Species
Pteridophytes (Ferns & Allies)	15	20	27
Gymnosperms	3	4	9
Monocots	26	111	300
Dicots	96	353	645
Totals	140	488	981

References

About "Plant Checklist of the Plants from the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Retrieved 13 July 2019.

External links

Official home page
The short film Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (2005) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
Plant Checklist of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

Protected areas of Illinois

Federal

National Historic Sites and Parks and national monument	Chicago Portage Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Lincoln Home New Philadelphia Pullman
National Forest	Shawnee
National Wildlife Refuges	Chautauqua Crab Orchard Cypress Creek Driftless Area Emiquon Great River Hackmatack Kankakee Mark Twain Meredosia Middle Mississippi River Port Louisa Two Rivers Upper Mississippi River
National Grassland	Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
National Trails/National Heritage Area	Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area Illinois and Michigan Canal Lewis and Clark Mormon Pioneer Trail of Tears
National Natural Landmarks	List of National Natural Landmarks in Illinois
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Middle Fork Vermilion River
Wetlands of international importance	Cache River-Cypress Creek The Emiquon Complex Dixon Waterfowl Refuge Chiwaukee Illinois Beach Lake Plain (shared with Wisconsin) Upper Mississippi (shared)

State

State Parks	Apple River Argyle Lake Beall Woods Beaver Dam Buffalo Rock Castle Rock Cave-in-Rock Chain O'Lakes Channahon Delabar Dixon Springs Donnelley/Depue Ferne Clyffe Fort Massac Fox Ridge Gebhard Woods Giant City Hennepin Canal Parkway Horseshoe Lake Illini Illinois Beach James "Pate" Philip Jubilee College Kankakee River Lake Murphysboro Lincoln Trail Lowden Matthiessen Mississippi Palisades Moraine Hills Morrison-Rockwood Nauvoo Pere Marquette Red Hills Rock Cut Rock Island Trail Shabbona Lake Siloam Springs South Shore Starved Rock Walnut Point Weinberg-King White Pines Forest Wildlife Prairie William G. Stratton Wolf Creek
State Historic Sites	List of Illinois State Historic Sites (including, Cahokia World Heritage Site)
State Forests	Big River Hidden Springs Lowden-Miller Sand Ridge Trail of Tears
State Recreation Areas	Clinton Lake Eagle Creek Eldon Hazlet Frank Holten Golconda Marina Johnson-Sauk Trail Kickapoo Lake Le-Aqua-Na Moraine View North Point Marina Prophetstown Pyramid Ramsey Lake Randolph County Sangchris Lake Stephen A. Forbes Washington County Wayne Fitzgerrell Weldon Springs William W. Powers
State Fish and Wildlife Areas	Anderson Lake Baldwin Lake Banner Marsh Carlyle Lake Coffeen Lake Crawford County Des Plaines Double T Edward R. Madigan Green River Hamilton County Heidecke Lake Horseshoe Lake (Alexander County) Iroquois County Kaskaskia River Kinkaid Lake Kishwaukee River LaSalle Lake Mackinaw River Marshall Mautino Mazonia/Braidwood Mermet Lake Middle Fork Mississippi River Newton Lake Jim Edgar Panther Creek Peabody River Pekin Lake Powerton Lake Ray Norbut Rend Lake Rice Lake Sahara Woods Saline County Sam Dale Lake Sam Parr Sanganois Shelbyville Silver Springs Snakeden Hollow Spring Lake Ten Mile Creek Turkey Bluffs Union County Woodford
State Natural Areas	Cache River Franklin Creek Fults Hill Prairie Goose Lake Prairie Harry "Babe" Woodyard Illinois Caverns Kidd Lake Piney Creek Ravine Prairie Ridge Revis Hill Prairie Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Sielbeck Forest Spitler Woods Volo Bog
State Trails	Mormon Trail Trail of Tears Tunnel Hill

Local

County Districts	Local forest and conservation districts

Category
Chicago
East St. Louis
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Commons

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National Wildlife Refuges of the United States

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