Welcome to the Southwest Regional Refuge Planning Division

This page contains links to Comprehensive Conservation Plans (15-year refuge management plans), Land Protection Plans (refuge expansion plans) and Preliminary Project Proposals (initial plans to create, or greatly enlarge a refuge) for National Wildlife Refuges in the States of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The Southwest Region's 45 National Wildlife Refuges protect wildlife and habitats ranging from the Coastal Marshes of Texas to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and the mountains of New Mexico to the river bottomlands of Oklahoma. The Planning Division staff hopes that this webpage encourages your participation in refuge planning.

Note: for a list of the status of all Comprehensive Conservation Plans in the Southwest Region, click on Plans in Progress and scroll down.

We are located in the Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Division of Planning
National Wildlife Refuge System, Southwest Region
P.O. Box 1306
Albuquerque NM 87103
contact (505) 248-6823 for assistance.

Southwest Refuges Review Impacts of Farming Programs.

On many refuges throughout the nation, farming programs provide benefits for both resident and migrating animals. For example, farming programs provide supplemental forage for resident and migratory wildlife, manage undesirable and/or invasive vegetation, restore native habitats and aid in the recovery of threatened or endangered species, and in some cases provide a safe resting spot for migrating waterfowl and help to keep them off private farm fields. Farming programs also provide increased wildlife observation, photography, and environmental education opportunities.

Seven southwest region refuges with farming programs are in the process of drafting a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (Plan). These Plans are designed to guide all aspects of refuge management over a 15-year timeframe. The Plan process requires refuges to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by involving the public, considering a range of alternative management actions, and assessing the environmental consequences of each alternative. Each refuge is required to complete a Plan by 2012 in accordance with the Refuge Improvement Act of 1997. Refuges with Plans currently in production are evaluating their farming programs as part of the planning process. These refuges include:

• Aransas
• Attwater
• Bosque del Apache
• Texas Mid-Coast Complex (Big Boggy, Brazoria, and San Bernard)
• Tishomingo

An additional seven southwest region refuges with farming programs completed a Plan in recent years. These refuges considered alternatives to their current farming activities and the effects of such programs as part of the planning process. The Service is re-evaluating these documents to ensure that each refuge adequately addressed farming in their Plan and associated NEPA document. In 2008, Anahuac NWR completed a Plan and associated Environmental Impact Statement that fully assessed farming activities; therefore, this Refuge will not be re-evaluating their program as part of the current compliance effort. The refuges that are re-evaluating their current plans include:

• Hagerman
• Northern New Mexico Complex (Las Vegas and Maxwell)
• Salt Plains
• Washita
• Optima

The remaining eight southwest region refuges with farming programs have initiated a review of their farming programs. These refuges will involve the public in reviewing the farming program, consider alternative options for achieving management goals, and complete a NEPA document to illustrate the direction of their farming program. These refuges include:

• Bitter Lake
• Buffalo Lake
• Havasu
• Sequoyah
• South Texas Complex (Laguna Atascosa and Lower Rio Grande Valley)
• Southwest Arizona Complex (Cibola and Imperial)

Public Scoping Period Extended through August 31, 2010

The Southwest Region has extended the public scoping period for all refuges in the region with farming programs. The scoping period gives members of the public a chance to bring issues and concerns to the attention of refuge staff and recommend alternative actions to current management. Please submit your comments to the appropriate refuge manager by August 31, 2010.

Refuge Contacts for Scoping Period

In an extensive outreach effort, the following letter was distributed to federal, state, and local agencies as well as NGOs. The letter provides short descriptions of each refuge’s current farming program. Read the letter.

A review of those farming programs on Refuges in the southwest has begun and is scheduled to conclude by early 2011.

Article about Refuge Comprehensive Planning that appeared in Planning, the member magazine of the American Planning Association.

Little Sandy NWR Planning Update #1