Piedmont NWR, GA: 5-8-18

When FDR signed the Executive Order establishing Piedmont NWR in 1939, the land’s fertility and abundant wildlife populations had been ravaged.  The vast forest which had been present, had been cleared by European settlers in the early 1800s.  Cotton became king and farming soon robbed the soil of its natural fertility.  The loss of forest, with its soil-stabilizing root system, led to massive erosion problems.  The Civil War, the boll weevil, and the Great Depression combined to combine large scale abandonment during the Dust Bowl Era.  Today, through the efforts of USFWS, the 35,000 acre refuge is once again a forrest.  Wildlife populations have been restored.  Piedmont NWR now serves as a model of forrest ecosystem management for wildlife.

Eastern Kingbird

Muskrat

Canada Geese

White-tailed Deer feeding in the shallows

Beaver Lodge

Bird Mobile on the Piedmont NWR Wildlife Drive

Male Pileated Woodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk