Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established, to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Selecting the right tools helps us ensure the survival of local plants and animals and helps fulfill the purpose of the refuge. 

Approximately 250 acres of the available crop fields are in production each year depending on the availability of water. Winter wheat and triticale, as well oats and barley, are planted for wintering and migrating waterfowl and cranes. 

The 700 acres of wetland habitat on the refuge includes three lakes which are supplemented during the wet years by two natural playa lakes. Lakes 12, 13, and 14 store water and are managed by the Vermejo Conservancy District for irrigation to local farmers, ranchers and the refuge. Open water serves as loafing areas for waterfowl, year round habitat for marsh birds, and habitat for shorebirds on the seasonally flooded mudflats. Shorelines have beneficial vegetation such as smartweed and bulrush that provides ideal nesting cover and substrate for invertebrates, which waterfowl and shorebirds will feed on. Many species depend upon the refuge's wetland habitat for part or all of their life cycle. 

Woodlots on the refuge are primarily plains cottonwood, Siberian elm, white poplar, and New Mexico locust. The woodlots are actually remnants of old homesteads that today provide unique foraging and nesting habitat for raptors, migrant songbirds, and other important species. Look for Swainson’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, ravens, mourning doves, wild turkey, warblers, and orioles. The woodlots also provide cover for resident mule deer and white-tailed deer and occasional visitors such as mountain lion and black bear.