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McNary National Wildlife Refuge |
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| 64 Maple Street Burbank, WA 99323 E-mail: mcriver@fws.gov Phone Number: (509) 546-8300 |
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| Visit the Refuge's Web Site: http://www.fws.gov/mcnary/ |
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McNary National Wildlife Refuge |
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| 64 Maple Street Burbank, WA 99323 E-mail: mcriver@fws.gov Phone Number: (509) 546-8300 |
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| Visit the Refuge's Web Site: http://www.fws.gov/mcnary/ |
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McNary National Wildlife Refuge Few areas in North America support waterfowl populations in the extraordinary numbers found within McNary National Wildlife Refuge. Visitors enjoy spectacular concentrations of Canada geese, mallards, and other waterfowl. More than half the mallards in the Pacific Flyway overwinter at some time in this portion of the Columbia River Basin. The refuge's location, close to the Tri-Cities, Washington, and major State and Federal highways, makes it easily accessible to local folks and travelers. The refuge encompasses over 15,000 acres of backwater sloughs, shrub-steppe uplands, irrigated farmlands, river islands, delta mudflats, and riparian areas. Particularly important to Canada geese, mallards, and wigeons, as well as shorebirds and wading birds, the refuge also includes wetlands and shoreline bays that serve as an important nursery for developing fall chinook salmon. Other waterfowl species using the refuge include green-winged teal, shoveler, canvasback, ring-necked, and lesser scaup ducks. Rare and endangered birds, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons, are found here, as are thousands of colonial nesting water birds using river islands for safe nesting. Getting There . . . From Portland, take Highway 84 east to Highway 730. Take Highway 12 north and make a right on Maple Street. Refuge visitor facilities are a quarter of a mile from Highway 12. Get Google map and directions to this refuge/WMD from a specified address: |
Environmental Education Hunting Interpretation Photography Wildlife Observation Learn More >> 
McNary Refuge includes a rich diversity of habitats. To provide more wildlife, refuge staff members use a variety of carefully chosen habitat management techniques to maintain, recover, or enhance habitat. Seasonally flooded wetlands provide resting and feeding areas and are especially important to waterfowl during fall migration. Management of these seasonal wetlands involves the manipulation of water levels to encourage native food supplies and promote the diverse wetland plant growth that provides a variety of food and shelter for wildlife. Some wetlands are burned and disked to remove undesirable plant growth and create open areas. Shoreline burning and mowing also create open beach areas that waterfowl use for courting, feeding, resting, and raising young. Refuge managers improve uplands through prescribed burning, removal of exotic weed species, and planting of native grasses. Riparian habitat supplies food, water, nesting sites, and shelter for a wide variety of wildlife. Management practices in riparian areas include planting native willows and cottonwoods, which provide essential nesting habitat for migratory songbirds like yellow warbler and willow flycatchers. Approximately 700 acres of refuge lands are irrigated croplands which provide food and cover for wildlife. Local farmers grow corn, wheat, alfalfa, and other crops under a cooperative agreement whereby the refuge's share of the crop is left in the field for wildlife. These crops provide an extremely valuable source of high energy food for waterfowl, especially in late winter when other food sources may be exhausted or covered by snow. |
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