· Outside Las Vegas Foundation

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, consists of four separate refuges: Desert National Wildlife Range; Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge; Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge; and the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Visit the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex website.

Desert NWR Facts:

  • By far, the largest of the four refuges is the Desert National Wildlife Range (NWR), which includes more than 1.5 million acres (over 2,300-sq. mi.). The vast refuge is large enough to cover the state of Rhode Island twice, and still have room left over for a quarter of a million football fields. This is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the lower 48 states.

  • The refuge forms the largest intact block of desert bighorn sheep habitat remaining in the Southwest.

  • The Desert NWR contains six major mountain ranges to an elevation of 10,000 feet. The wide range of elevation and rainfall has created amazingly diverse habitat suited to a wide variety of flora and fauna.

  • The Desert NWR is a land of great diversity. Here the Mojave Desert ecosystem merges with the Great Basin ecosystem on this vast dry landscape.

  • From a recreation standpoint, the area has the feel of a drive-in wilderness, as there is virtually no imprint of man except for the primitive roads.

  • More than 500 species of plants have been identified in plant communities in zones varying from saltbrush on the valley floors to ponderosa pine, white fur and the bristlecone pines at the highest elevation. Over 320 species of birds have been identified within its boundaries, and the area is home to 52 species of mammals and 35 species of reptiles.

    • Pahranagat NWR Facts:

  • This NWR encompasses 5,380 acres of lakes and marshes and native grass meadows which provide a rare oasis in the Mojave Desert.

  • The name "Pahranagat" comes from the Paiute Indian word meaning "places of many waters."

  • Pahranagat NWR is on the Pacific Flyway and a critical stopping point for waterfowl and other migratory birds as they migrate south in the fall and back north in early spring.
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    Ash Meadows NWR Facts:

  • This 22,000-acre complex was established primarily to conserve the threatened and endangered plant and animal species found there, and provides a habitat for 25 plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. This distinguishes Ash Meadows as having the greatest concentration of endemic species of any other local area in the United States. Of the 25 unique species, 12 have been listed as either threatened or endangered.

  • For these reasons, Ash Meadows NWR was designated as a wetland of international importance in 1986. The refuge use a major discharge point for a vast underground water system, stretching 100 miles to the northeast. Nearly all of the water at Ash Meadows is "fossil" water, believed to have entered the ground water system thousands of years ago. Water-bearing strata comes to the surface in more than 30 seeps and springs, providing a rich and complex variety of habitats.
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    Moapa Valley NWR Facts:

  • The 106-acre riparian area was established to protect and secure habitat for the endangered Moapa dace and several other rare and endemic species.

  • Water is the key natural resource, which makes Moapa Valley a unique ecosystem. The refuge stream system is supported by several thermal springs that emerge near the center of the refuge.
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