The Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge is an 11169 acres (4,519.9 ha) United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...

 located in southern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. The site is located in the San Luis Valley

San Luis Valley

The San Luis Valley is an extensive alpine valley in the U.S. states of Colorado and New Mexico covering approximately and sitting at an average elevation of above sea level. The valley sits atop the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande River, which rises in the San Juan...

 along the east side of the Rio Grande

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...

 approximately 8 miles (12.9 km) southeast of Alamosa

Alamosa, Colorado

The city of Alamosa is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 8,682 in 2005...

 primarily in southeastern Alamosa County

Alamosa County, Colorado

Alamosa County is one of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county name is the Spanish language word for a "grove of cottonwood trees." The county population was 14,966 at U.S. Census 2000...

, although very small parts extend into northeastern Conejos

Conejos County, Colorado

Conejos County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado in the United States. The county population was 8,400 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is the unincorporated town of Conejos.-History:...

 and western Costilla

Costilla County, Colorado

Costilla County is the ninth least populous of the 64 counties in the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 3,663 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado.- History :...

 counties. It is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

 jointly with the Baca

Baca National Wildlife Refuge

The Baca National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado. It is located on the lands of the Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4 near Crestone, Colorado in the San Luis Valley in southern Saguache and northern Alamosa counties, about northeast of the town...

 and Monte Vista

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado. The refuge is located in the San Luis Valley approximately 10 miles west of the town of Alamosa in southeastern Rio Grande and western Alamosa counties, in the watershed of the Rio Grande...

 National Wildlife Refuges. It was established in 1962 as a haven for migratory birds and other wildlife.

The site consists of wet meadows, river oxbows and riparian corridor primarily within the flood plain of the Rio Grande, and dry uplands vegetated with greasewood

Greasewood

Greasewood, Sarcobatus, is a genus of one or two species of flowering plants. Traditionally it has been treated in the family Chenopodiaceae, but the APG II system, of 2003, places it in the family Sarcobataceae....

 and saltbush. These areas support songbirds, water birds, raptor

Bird of prey

Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

s, mule deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...

, beaver

American Beaver

The North American Beaver is the only species of beaver in the Americas, native to North America and introduced to South America. In the United States and Canada, where no other species of beaver occurs, it is usually simply referred to as "beaver"...

 and coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

s. Water from the Rio Grande is supplemented by water from the Closed Basin Project. The site includes a visitor center and two-mile roundtrip hiking trail. It is considered to be more wild and less intensely managed than the nearby Monte Vista refuge.