Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge

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Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN Category IV (Habitat/Species Management Area)
Map of the United States
Location:	Alabama, USA
Nearest city:	Gulf Shores, Alabama
Coordinates:	30°14′22.9776″N, 87°49′11.6400″W
Area:	6,816 acres
Established:	1980
Total Visitation:	50,000 (in 2005)
Governing body:	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is a 6,816-acre National Wildlife Refuge located in Baldwin County, Alabama, directly west of Gulf Shores, Alabama on the Fort Morgan peninsula. The refuge serves as a resting and feeding area for migratory birds and as a sanctuary for native flora and fauna. The refuge is one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land on the Alabama coast.

Established in 1980, Bon Secour is smaller than most other national wildlife refuges, and is comprised of five separate units: Sand Bayou, Perdue, Little Point Clear, Fort Morgan, and Little Dauphin Island, with the Perdue unit being the most developed. More than 50,000 guests visit the refuge annually. The fiscal year 2005 budget was $404,000.

Protected habitats within the refuge include beaches and sand dunes, scrub forest, fresh and saltwater marshes, fresh water swamps, and uplands.

1 Wildlife
2 Trail networks
3 Recent Developments
4 See also
5 Images
6 External links

[edit] Wildlife

A young sea turtle at Bon Secour

The refuge seeks to conserve an undisturbed beach and dune ecoystem which will serve as a refuge for endangered and threatened plant, fish, and wildlife speciess, as well as a habitat for migratory birds.

Some of the refuge's endangered species are the Alabama Beach Mouse which lives among the sand dunes and sea oats, and green, loggerhead, and Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, which nest along the beach.

Approximately 400 species of birds have been identified on the refuge throughout the year, usually during migratory seasons, ranging from ospreys and herons to seven species of hummingbirds. There have also been sightings of red fox, wild pig, coyotes, and armadillos.

[edit] Trail networks

There are two trails in the Perdue unit of the refuge with a combined length of approximately five miles.

Pine Beach Trail
Jeff Friend Trail

[edit] Recent Developments

Map of Bon Secour

Bon Secour suffered extensive damage on September 16, 2004 due to a near direct hit from Hurricane Ivan and the accompanying 20 foot storm surge.[1] Ivan destroyed much of the wildlife habitat and left a variety of debris in its wake including propane tanks, boats, jet skis, trailers, parts of buildings, and other scattered construction debris. The Jeff Friend Trail system was particularly damaged and is closed until further notice. Also, the dunes of the Purdue and Fort Morgan units suffered extensive damage.

After cleaning up a second wave of (less-extensive) damage from Hurricane Katrina, limited access to the refuge beach in the Purdue unit reopened in October 2005.[2]