Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge

Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 as a "combination wildlife and game-management demonstration area" to demonstrate that wildlife could be restored on worn out, eroded lands.  Today, through the efforts of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the 35,000 acre wildlife refuge is once again a forest. It hosts loblolly pines on the ridges with hardwoods found along creek bottoms and in scattered upland coves. Clear streams and beaver ponds provide ideal wetlands for migrating waterfowl. The refuge is also now home to a growing population the endangered Red-cockaded woodpecker. Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge serves as a model of forest management for wildlife.