The habitat includes 659 upland acres and 453 wetland acres, seasonally open to public hunting for pheasant, waterfowl and doves. Atlanta WPA contains a large wetland basin that requires a large runoff event to provide adequate water for migratory waterfowl. For this reason, the basin is dry in many low snowfall years. The property contains one well, which is unable to provide enough water (in relation to cost) to create suitable open water.
In recent years, a couple of management practices have been attempted to improve the basins use by waterfowl. In the mid-1990’s, a low-level dike with a water control structure was built to separate the northern portion from the rest of the wetland. The wetland receives most of it s runoff from the north. The diked area allows at least a portion of the basin to fill in low or marginal precipitation years. Intense grazing has also been done on the wetland reduce the amount of vegetation, primarily reed canary grass. The grazing allows even a couple of inches of water to become accessible to waterfowl. 68 acres of low diversity grassland (northeast corner) were inter-seeded with a high diversity seed mix. The upland has numerous volunteer trees scattered throughout the property. In 2002, trees were removed on approximately 85 acres.
Contact Info
Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District, P.O. Box 8, 73746 V Rd, Funk, NE 68940.
308-263-3000.
www.fws.gov/refuge/rainwater_basin_wmd/