Seeking Refuge

Seeking Refuge examines the development and management of refuges in the wintering range of migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. The Pacific Flyway is the westernmost of the four major North American bird migration routes and millions of birds travel it each year to winter and summer ranges. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the farmlands along the flyway were irrigated using the wetlands, and as a result the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established refuges within these radically transformed landscapes in order to sustain migratory birds. In a time when global warming promises to compound the stress on water and migratory species, this book demonstrates the need to foster landscapes where both wildlife and people can thrive.