About Modoc National Wildlife Refuge

The 7,021-acre Modoc Refuge is located along the South Fork of the Pit River in Modoc County, southeast of the town of Alturas, in extreme northeastern California. The Refuge is located on the western edge of the Great Basin, a high elevation, cold desert environment. The Refuge consists of wetland, reservoir, riparian, sagebrush-steppe, and cropland habitats. The Refuge is part of a larger complex of mid-elevation wetlands and lakes of northeastern California and is strategically situated to meet the needs of waterfowl and other migratory birds of the Pacific Flyway. Modoc Refuge acts as a migration and staging area for ducks, geese, and other wetland birds on the southward migration funnel into this region. After feeding and resting on the Refuge, they continue to the Central and Imperial Valleys of California and other wintering areas. This pattern is reversed in the spring. The Refuge's wetlands and adjacent uplands are also an important nesting area for ducks, geese, greater sandhill cranes, and several other species of marsh birds.