Overflow National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Ashley County, Arkansas, United States
Nearest city	Wilmot, Arkansas
Coordinates	33°04′00″N 91°40′30″W / 33.0667916°N 91.6751235°W / 33.0667916; -91.6751235[1]
Area	13,973 acres (56.55 km2)
Established	1980
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Overflow National Wildlife Refuge

Overflow National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a 13,973 acre (56.55 km²) national wildlife refuge in Ashley County, Arkansas. Overflow NWR is one of three refuges forming an administrative complex, which also includes Felsenthal NWR and Pond Creek NWR to the west.^[2]

Habitat and wildlife

Overflow National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in 1980 to protect one of the last remaining bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi Alluvial Plains.^[3] These forests are considered vital for wintering migratory waterfowl populations in the Mississippi Flyway. The refuge is composed of nearly 14,000 acres of bottomland hardwood forests, shrub wetlands, moist-soil units, and upland pine-hardwood forests.^[4] It also contains a 230-acre (0.9 km²) old growth Sugar Maple and American Beech forest.^[5]

Overflow NWR has been recognized as a state-wide Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society.^[6] Carefully timed flooding of the bottomlands and moist-soil units stimulates the growth of native wetland plants, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.^[7] These high energy foods are crucial for the survival of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.

References

External links

• Overflow National Wildlife Refuge's Official Website