Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The 120,000 acre refuge is located almost entirely in Cameron County, Texas, 25 mi east of Harlingen, although a very small part of its northernmost point extends into southern Willacy County.

History

The Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge was created following World War II in 1946 to protect habitat for migratory birds and waterfowl, specifically redhead ducks (Aythya americana). By 2010, it had grown to encompass a total of 65096 acre in a landscape of "an interspersed pattern of meandering resacas (oxbow lakes), lomas (brush-covered sand/clay dunes), coastal prairies, and wetlands." In January 2024, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced a proposal to add 477 acre to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge via a swap of land currently owned by SpaceX, in order to allow SpaceX to become the owner of 43 acre of Boca Chica State Park land to expand their existing rocket launch facility at SpaceX Starbase.

Fauna

The Peregrine Fund began reintroducing captive-bred northern aplomado falcons (Falco femoralis septentrionalis) to the refuge in 1985, which had been nearly extirpated from the Southwestern United States; by 2009, it was home to 26 pair. Nine other endangered or threatened species inhabit the refuge, such as the Texas ocelot (Leopardus pardalis albescens) and (formerly) the Gulf Coast jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), rare wild cats.

Botany and ecology

Programs at the refuge include vegetation and wetland restoration.