| Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
  Location in Alabama Show map of Alabama Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Baldwin County andMobile County, Alabama, United States |
| Nearest city | Gulf Shores, Alabama |
| Coordinates | 30°14′N87°49′W / 30.24°N 87.82°W /30.24; -87.82 |
| Area | 7,157.72 acres (29 km2)[1] |
| Established | 1980 |
| Visitors | 50,000 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Bon Secour NWR |
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is a 7,157-acre (29 km2)National Wildlife Refuge located in five separate units inBaldwin andMobile Counties, United States, directly west ofGulf Shores, Alabama on theFort Morgan Peninsula. The refuge serves as a resting and feeding area formigratory birds and as asanctuary for nativeflora andfauna. The refuge is one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land on the Alabama coast.
Established in 1980, Bon Secour (the name, in French, means "safe harbor") is smaller than most other national wildlife refuges, and is divided into Sand Bayou, Perdue, Little Point Clear, Fort Morgan, and Little Dauphin Island.
The Perdue unit is the most developed. Most units are located on theFort Morgan Peninsula in Baldwin County, except Little Dauphin Island, which is in Mobile County. More than 50,000 guests visit the refuge annually. The fiscal year 2005 budget was $404,000.
Protected habitats within the refuge include beaches andsand dunes, western portion ofLittle Lagoon,scrub forest, fresh and saltwatermarshes, fresh waterswamps, anduplands.
The refuge seeks to conserve an undisturbed beach and dune ecosystem which will serve as a refuge for endangered and threatened plant, fish, and wildlife species, as well as a habitat for migratory birds.
Some of the refuge's endangered species are theAlabama beach mouse which lives among thesand dunes andsea oats, andgreen,loggerhead, andKemp's ridleysea turtles, which nest along the beach.
Approximately 400 species of birds have been identified on the refuge, usually during migratory seasons, ranging fromospreys andherons to seven species ofhummingbirds. There have been sightings ofdeer,bobcat,alligators,red fox,wild pig,coyotes, andarmadillos.
There are four trails in the Perdue unit of the refuge with a combined length of five miles.
Bon Secour suffered extensive damage on 16 September 2004 due to a near direct hit fromHurricane Ivan and the accompanying 20-foot (6 m)storm surge.[1] Ivan destroyed much of the wildlife habitat and left extensive debris in its wake including propane tanks, boats, jet skis, trailers, parts of buildings, and other construction debris. The Jeff Friend and Pine Beach trail systems suffered extensive damage. Debris cluttered the Jeff Friend unit, while the Pine Beach trail suffered the loss of both the Gator Lake boardwalk and observation pavilion. Following repairs and the replacement of the boardwalk, both trails are now open to the public. The dunes of the Purdue and Fort Morgan units suffered extensive damage but natural processes are beginning to repair the damage.
After cleaning up a second wave of less-extensive damage fromHurricane Katrina, limited access to the refuge beach in the Purdue unit reopened in October 2005.[2]
Geographic data related toBon Secour National Wildlife Refuge atOpenStreetMap| International | |
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