Coronavirus (COVID-19) Notice
Although most refuge lands and outdoor spaces have remained open for the public to enjoy, we ask that you Recreate Responsibly.
- Check local conditions on this website and call ahead for current information.
- Operations vary based on local public health conditions.
- Consistent with CDC recommendations, people who are not fully vaccinated must continue to wear masks indoors and in crowded outdoor spaces.
- Most importantly, stay home if you feel sick and continue to watch for symptoms of COVID-19 and follow CDC guidance on how to protect yourself and others.
-
Old Growth Forest
One of the largest tracts
of old growth forest in the South, the Dance Bayou tract has 300+ documented
species of flowering plants.
Learn
More
-
Crossing the Gulf
Migratory birds exhausted
from the 600-mile crossing of the Gulf of Mexico find food, shelter and fresh
water in the refuge bottomlands.
-
Get a closer look!
Get up close and personal
with some of the refuge's wild residents and the habitat they depend
upon.
View
the Gallery
-
Still Wild
Clouds of snow geese in the winter
or warbler “fallouts” in the spring convince refuge visitors they have stepped
back in time.
-
Where Wildlife Comes First
National Wildlife
Refuges are managed for wildlife and habitat and to ensure future generations
will always have wild places to explore!
Visitor
Activities
News
The San Bernard NWR will be accepting applications for the Sargent Permit Waterfowl Hunt Area September 1st-30th. Waterfowl season opens on November 7, 2020.
Waterfowl Hunting
Did you know?
The prothonotary warbler was
actually named for a group of Catholic clerics who wore bright yellow? The
brilliant yellow bird is one of many migratory birds that depend on the refuge’s
bottomland hardwood forest.
Featured Stories
San Bernard National
Wildlife is part of the Texas Mid-coast Refuge Complex, which also includes
Brazoria and Big Boggy Refuges. For more information on the three refuges,
contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Contact Us
Featured Stories
On the Radar
Sidney Gauthreaux, a Clemson
University scientist, uses weather service radar scans to calculate spring
migration. He calculates an astonishing 239 million birds pass through the
Columbia Bottomlands each spring. Able to watch the migration on radar in real
time, the birds all seem to leave the bottomlands in an ‘exodus’ event, which
is about a half-hour to forty-five minutes after sunset on a southerly wind.
The migratory birds lift off at nearly the same time in a wheel-shaped
formation that might include as many as quarter of a million birds. Considered
the founder of radar ornithology, Gauthreaux also estimates that neotropical
songbird migration decreased by half from 1979 to 1995.
About the NWRS
The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants.
Learn more about the NWRS
Page Photo Credits – All photos courtesy of USFWS unless otherwise noted., Linville Bayou Unit, Roseate spoonbill female with chicks, Old growth forest, Scarlet Tanager / Allen Dale ©, Snow geese, Indian blanket flowers / Lavaty ©, Kayaking on the refuges, Chestnut-sided / Scott Buckel ©, Prothonotary warbler / USFWS, Live oak on Hudson Woods / USFWS
Last Updated: Oct 01, 2019