Piedmont Wildlife Refuge
Phone: 478-986-5441
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge is primarily an upland forest dominated by loblolly pine on the ridges with hardwoods found along the creek bottoms and in scattered upland coves. Clear streams and beaver ponds provide ideal wetland habitat for wood ducks and other wetland dependent species. In the early 1800's the European settlers arrived in abundance and began to clear the land to plant a variety of crops. The settlers removed more than 90% of the forest. The continuous planting of cotton caused serious erosion and soil infertility. By the late 1870's they had abandoned more than a third of the land because the land could not sustain crops. With the combination of soil infertility, the boll weevil outbreak on remaining cotton and the depression, there was wholesale abandonment of the barren eroded land in the 1930's. By then all the top soil had washed away, leaving the red clay subsoil exposed. The refuge was established from this worn out abandoned farm land where few wildlife species remained. With good soil and forest conservation practices, the wildlife habitat began to improve. Today, through the efforts of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the 35,000 acre wildlife refuge is once again a forest. The red-cockaded woodpecker, a native bird of the southern US, is an endangered species because the older age pine forests it requires for nesting and roosting have been cleared throughout most of its range. The refuge currently has 39 active family groups. Prescribed burning and thinning are two forest management practices used to provide habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker. Many migratory bird species, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and other native wildlife benefit from these management practices. The diversity of habitats provides a haven for over 200 species of birds, including many species of neotropical songbirds, and 50 species of mammals.
Directions
From I-75, 30 miles north of Macon, take exit 186 Juliette Road. Drive 18 miles east from the interstate to the refuge. Or from Hwy 11 between Gray and Monticello, take Juliette Road west 3 miles to the refuge office and visitor center.
More info at http://piedmont.fws.gov
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