Hillside National Wildlife Refuge


	Hillside National Wildlife Refuge
	1562 Providence Road Cruger, MS 38924 E-mail: yazoo@fws.gov Phone Number: 662-235-4989
	Visit the Refuge's Web Site: http://www.fws.gov/hillside/	Hillside NWR - Common Snapping Turtle

Hillside National Wildlife Refuge
This refuge is an oasis of wildlife habitat surrounded by agriculture. Bounded on the east side by the unique loess bluffs of eastern Mississippi, this 15,572-acre refuge was named to reflect its location at the base of the bluffs. The refuge was established in 1975 and provides important stop-over and nesting habitat for over 200 species of neotropical migratory birds. The refuge is also known for large numbers of wintering waterfowl, at times exceeding 125,000 birds. Mallards, American wigeon, gadwall, northern shoveler, teal, scaup, and ring-necked ducks traveling through the Mississippi Flyway stop by Hillside National Wildlife Refuge each winter. Breeding populations of wood ducks and hooded mergansers can be found throughout the refuge. Common shorebirds include killdeer, snipe, least and pectoral sandpipers, and greater and lesser yellowlegs.

A wading bird rookery provides nesting and roosting habitat for several species of marsh and wading birds including white ibis; great, snowy, and cattle egrets; great blue, little blue, and green-backed herons; and yellow-crowned night herons.

Raptors include the red-tailed hawk, northern harrier, American kestrel, and Mississippi kite.

Getting There . . .
Take Highway 49E approximately 16 miles north of Yazoo City to Thorton, MS. Turn right (east) on Thorton road and travel approximately 4 miles to the refuge. There is no staffed office on Hillside.

For maps, please go to: http://hillside.fws.gov/directions.html

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Hillside National Wildlife Refuge is a diversity of dynamic habitats. Originally purchased by the Corps of Engineers to capture sediment from the Yazoo Basin Headwater area, Hillside National Wildlife Refuge continues to evolve. Elevations rise from less than 100 feet mean sea level on the south end of the refuge to about 135 feet on the north end where Black Creek forms an alluvial fan as it flows from the hills into the broad Delta. The eastern boundary of the refuge rises abruptly to 300 feet and includes a small portion of the loess bluffs.

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The lands that lie within the boundaries of Hillside National Wildlife Refuge were transferred to the Fish & Wildlife Service by the Corps of Engineers in 1975. The Corps had purchased the land to complete the Hillside Floodway - Yazoo Basin Headwater Project. The project was designed to capture sediment and silt flowing off the loess hills and to prevent its entry into the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers, preventing costly dredging projects. The Corps then transferred the land to the Service "...for the conservation, maintenance and management of wildlife, resources thereof, and its habitat thereon."

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Management activities include reforestation, cooperative farming, moist-soil management, wood duck banding and nest box management, and an active public use program.