About Us

A picture of Indiana Bats, three small bats grouped together
Image Details

Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge, known as Blowing Wind Cave NWR until 1999, lies just above the Sauty Creek embayment of TVA’s Guntersville Reservoir, seven miles west of Scottsboro, Jackson County, Alabama. The refuge established in 1978, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide protection for the federally endangered gray and Indiana bats and their crucial habitat consisting of 264 acres of hardwood forest. The cave provides a summer roosting site for about 300,000 - 400,000 gray bats and a winter hibernaculum for both bats. There are two entrances into the cave on the Refuge but they are closed to the public. As a result of the unique species within the cave, the Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranks the cave's biodiversity as a site of very high significance. 



In addition to the rare fauna within the cave, the federally threatened Price's potato-bean occurs on the Refuge. 

Our Mission

The management objectives for Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge include:

  • Protect gray and Indiana bats and their critical habitat.
  • Provide habitat for a natural diversity of wildlife and plants, especially species associated with cave systems.
  • Provide opportunity for compatible outdoor recreation, environmental education/ interpretation.

Our History

Sauta Cave was used as a saltpeter mine during the Civil War, a nightclub during the 1920s, and a fallout shelter during the 1960s.

Other Facilities in this Complex

Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge is managed as part of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Complex. 

Snow Geese
Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
Located in Decatur, AL, the refuge attracts thousands of wintering waterfowl each year as well as manages and protects habitat for 12 federally endangered or threatened species.
National Wildlife Refuge
Decatur,AL
Three healthy Indiana bats huddled in a cave
Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge
Home to the largest wintering colony of gray bats in the US, Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect this endangered species.
National Wildlife Refuge
Decatur,AL
Watercress Darter fish in the water
Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge
Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge, located in Bessemer, Alabama, was established to provide protection for the endangered watercress darter.
National Wildlife Refuge
Anniston,AL
Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge
Located southwest of Florence, Alabama, Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge protects the only known population of the endangered Alabama cavefish.
National Wildlife Refuge
Decatur,AL
Cahaba River
Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge
Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, located in Bibb County, Alabama, was established for the purpose of protecting and managing a unique section of the Cahaba River and land adjacent to it.
National Wildlife Refuge
An image of a Prairie Warbler perched in a tree.
Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge
Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge's primary purpose is to enhance, manage, and protect the unique mountain longleaf pine ecosystem in northeast Alabama.
National Wildlife Refuge
Anniston,AL