AZ-Leslie+Canyon+National+Wildlife+Refuge


 * =Birding in Arizona=

Cochise County
=Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge= Elfrida, Arizona 85610 Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge website

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Leslie Canyon NWR
Coordinates: 31.5918899, -109.508758 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge
The 2,765-acre refuge was established in 1988 to protect two of the eight native fish species of the Río Yaqui watershed, the Yaqui chub (Gila purpurea) and the Yaqui topminnow (Poeciliopsis sonoriensis). In addition, the refuge protects a unique velvet ash-black walnut-cottonwood forest along Leslie Creek that is important for many migrating and nesting birds.

It is 17.5 miles north of the international border with Mexico in southeast Arizona's Cochise County and is one of more than 550 National Wildlife Refuges, a federal network of lands and waters set aside for the benefit of wildlife.

Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge lies at the junction of the Swisshelm Mountains to the north and the Pedregosa Mountains to the south and east. Leslie Creek does not always have water in it but it was a tributary of Whitewater Draw in the Sulphur Springs Valley, which itself is a tributary of the Río Yaqui. The Rio Yaqui is a large river that historically drained portions of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico in the United States, as well as eastern Sonora and western Chihuahua in Mexico. It is the remaining portions of this once-massive watershed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to restore and protect on the Leslie Canyon and San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuges.

Between the Leslie Canyon and nearby San Bernardino Refuge, at least 334 bird species have been recorded, including many nesting birds. In addition, 67 mammal, 43 reptile, 13 amphibian, and eight fish species have been documented. The two refuges are critical in maintaining a sanctuary for at least 34 plant and wildlife species of concern. From Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge website

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media type="custom" key="29238747" || L326219 US US-AZ US-AZ-003 31.5918899 -109.508758 Leslie Canyon NWR