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Brazoria
National Wildlife Refuge		 Two roseate spoonbills frolic in the water at Brazoria NWR.
1212 North Velasco
Suite 200
Angelton, TX   77515
E-mail: floyd_truetken@fws.gov
Phone Number: 979-233-5338
Visit the Refuge's Web Site:
http://southwest.fws.gov/refuges/texas/texasmidcoast/		 Roseate spoonbills are a common sight at Brazoria NWR.
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  Overview
Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge
The thunder of 40,000 snow geese taking flight, the salty breeze off the Texas Gulf, or the sight of a 12-foot alligator loafing on a muddy bank make a trip to Texas Mid-Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex a sensory banquet in any season.

Three national wildlife refuges - Brazoria, San Bernard and Big Boggy - form a vital complex of coastal wetlands harboring more than 300 bird species. They serve as an end point of the Central Flyway for waterfowl in winter, and an entry point for neotropical migratory songbirds tired from a 600-mile Gulf crossing from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Near Greater Houston, the refuge complex offers haven for both wildlife and people. For wildlife, the expanse of salt and freshwater marshes, sloughs, ponds, coastal prairies, and bottomland forest represent feasting and lodging for all or part of the year. For people, these vestiges of wild Texas offer exceptional wildlife watching.

Freshwater sloughs wind through salt marshes. Rare, native bluestem prairie grasses grace the uplands. The greater the number of habitats, the richer the ecology. Brazoria NWR is no exception. It has a key location on the Texas Gulf which helps Freeport draw one of the highest Audubon Christmas bird counts in the nation - more than 200 species.


Getting There . . .
From the intersection of Highway 288 and FM 523 in Angleton, take FM 523 to Highway 2004 intersection. Continue on 523 for 5.5 miles to County Road 227. Turn left on CR227 and proceed 1.7 miles to the refuge entrance. The refuge office is in Demi-john which is three miles east of the refuge entrance.

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Wildlife and Habitat
The 5,000 acres of native bluestem prairie on Brazoria NWR represent one of the last coastal prairies in Texas.

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History
The Karankawa Indians once thrived on this land's rich bounty of fish and wildlife. Long before the first European settlers, they paddled dugout canoes along the coast between Galveston and Matagorda Bays. In 1528, Cabeza de Vaca was shipwrecked on this coast and lived with the Karankawas for six years. By 1825, the area bustled with sugar cane and cotton trade that was first under Spanish, then Mexican authority. More recently, ranchers grazed cattle on what eventually became the refuges.

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    Recreation and Education Opportunities
Environmental Education
Fishing
Hunting
Interpretation
Photography
Wildlife Observation
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Managment Activities

The loss of 1.2 million acres of historic wetlands in Texas makes the remaining areas especially important for wildlife. That means refuge staff works hard to assure the refuges are providing the best possible coastal wetland habitats.

Fire recycles grassland nutrients, controls exotic brush that invades mottled duck nesting habitat, and cultivates early succession plants favored by waterfowl. Prescribed fires are conducted to replace the historic cycle of wildfires.

Sometimes helping wildlife simply means allowing nature to run its course. When these refuges served as cattle ranches, many woodlots were cleared for grazing. Today, certain parts of the refuge are being allowed to return to forest to provide habitat for migratory songbirds.