Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Location	Box Elder County, Utah, United States
Nearest city	Brigham City, Utah
Coordinates	41°30′35″N 112°04′10″W
Area	79,000 acres (320 km2)
Established	1928
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a 74,000-acre (299 km²) National Wildlife Refuge in Utah, established in 1928. The refuge is part of a national system of fee ownership lands purchased from willing sellers, mostly private property owners.

The refuge encompasses the Bear River and its delta where it flows into the northern part of the Great Salt Lake in eastern Box Elder County. It includes a variety of habitats, such as open water, mudflats, wetlands, and uplands. The refuge hosts millions of migratory birds each year including species such as bald eagle and tundra swan. There are more than 41,000 acres (170 km²) of freshwater wetlands. The Refuge is approx. 80,000 acres of Federal and State lands that are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The surrounding lands are occupied by multiple hunting clubs along the bird migration route.

The James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center features interactive exhibits about the birds and wetlands of the Refuge and a 1/2-mile accessible walking trail a wetland habitat outside. Environmental education programs, symposiums and public events are offered.

There is a one-way 12 mile auto route through the Refuge, with an audio tour and map available for download through the official website.

Starting in 1983, rising floodwaters from the Great Salt Lake severely impacted the refuge. The flooding of the refuge is at the center of Terry Tempest Williams's noted nonfiction book, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. In 2006, a new wildlife education center off Interstate 15 opened to attract visitors once more.

Hansen Wildlife Education Center

See also

• National Wildlife Refuge
• List of National Wildlife Refuges

External links

• Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
• Official Web site of the Blue Goose Alliance
• Christopher Chadbourne and Associates, Inc., Exhibit Design firm for the Education Center