Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Southeast Region
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Refuge Quick Facts

Credit: David Goeke, USFWS

Credit: David Goeke, USFWS

Jane Griess - Project Leader
Shaw Davis - Deputy Project Leader
Scott Gilje - Refuge Operations Specialist

  • Established:  1962
  • Acres:  2,824 (157 man-made freshwater ponds; 705 open fields; 663 pine/oak forests; two acres of forested wetland; and 1,297 salt marsh).
  • Location:  McIntosh County, GA, 5 miles north of Eulonia, GA, then seven miles east on Harris Neck Road.  From I-95, take exit 67 and travel south on U.S. 17 for approximately one mile, then east on Harris Neck Road for seven miles to the main entrance gate on your left.
  • Land grant ownership to Scottish settlers in 1750.
  • Settled by freed slaves after the Civil War.
  • Lands condemned; used as World War II Army air training base.
  • Ownership given to McIntosh County after World War II.
  • County ownership revoked, established as a national wildlife refuge.
  • Notable concentrations of waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds, raptors, deer, turkey, quail and alligators.

Financial Impact of the Refuge

  • Over 48,000 visitors annually
  • Harris Neck NWR is part of a seven-refuge complex that has an annual budget of $3,434,000 (FY 2006) and a combined staff of 29, four of which are assigned to this refuge.

Refuge Objectives

  • Provide habitat and protection for migratory birds.
  • Provide protection and habitat to promote resident and migratory wildlife diversity.
  • Provide protection and management for endangered and threatened pland and animal species (American bald eagle, American alligator and wood stork).
  • Provide protection and management necessary to sustain and promote colonial nesting bird populations that use the refuge.
  • Provide wildlife education and interpretation and recreational opportunities to the visiting public.

Management Tools

  • Water level management for waterfowl, shorebirds, wood storks and wading birds.
  • Mowing and discing.
  • Prescribed fire.
  • Mechanical and chemical control of noxious plants.
  • Timber cutting.
  • Public hunting for deer population management.
  • Education/interpretation
  • Law enforcement
  • Partnerships

Public Use Opportunities

  • Hiking/biking trails
  • Auto tour route
  • Wildlife observation and photography
  • Hunting
  • Fishing/shrimping/crabbing
  • Environmental education and interpretation

 
Last updated: April 20, 2009