Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
{{short description|Nature preserve in California, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
| iucn_category = IV
| map = USA
| relief = 1
| map_caption = Map of the United States
| map_width = 300
| photo = Blue ridge landscape.jpg
| photo_caption =
| photo_width =
| location = Tulare County, California, United States
| nearest_city = Springville, California
| coordinates = {{coord|36.2798|-118.8446|region:US-CA|notes={{Cite web| url=http://protectedplanet.net/sites/Blue_Ridge_National_Wildlife_Refuge_Fws| title=Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge (Fws)| work=protectedplanet.net| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614061559/http://protectedplanet.net/sites/Blue_Ridge_National_Wildlife_Refuge_Fws| archive-date=2012-06-14}}|display=inline, title}}
| area = {{convert|897|acre|km2|abbr=on}}
| established = 1982
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
| website = [http://www.fws.gov/refuge/blue_ridge Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge]
}}
Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County, California. The refuge is one of four units of the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex for California condors.
Geography
The Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is part of the cooperatively-managed Blue Ridge Wildlife Habitat Area, an {{convert|11000|acre|km2|adj=on}} area set aside as an important roosting area located close to historic nesting and foraging habitat for the California condor. This refuge consists of almost {{convert|900|acre|km2}} of coniferous forests dominated by Ponderosa Pine and Incense Cedar.
As of July 2014, there is a total population of 437 condors living in sites in California, Baja California and Arizona.{{cite web| title=California Condor Recovery Program (monthly status report)| date=31 July 2014| url=http://www.fws.gov/cno/es/CalCondor/PDF_files/2014/Condor%20Program%20Monthly%20Status%20Report%202014-7-31.pdf| publisher=National Park Service| access-date=31 August 2014}} This includes a wild population of 232 and a captive population of 205. 68 free-flying Condors are managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in Southern California.
=Owners=
There are three principal private owners, and four public owners:
References
{{Reflist}}
- [http://www.fws.gov/refuge/blue_ridge Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge website]
- [http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=81671 Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge profile]
External links
- [http://www.condorwatch.org Condor Watch] The Condor Watch crowdsourcing project, started April 2014.
{{Protected Areas of California|NWR}}
{{National Wildlife Refuges of the United States}}
{{authority control}}
Category:National Wildlife Refuges in California
Category:Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Category:Protected areas of Tulare County, California
Category:Bureau of Land Management areas in California
{{TulareCountyCA-geo-stub}}