Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge

Established in 1983, Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge is primarily salt marsh habitat located along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, near the community of Chinquapin. The marsh attracts populations of wintering waterfowl and provides seasonal and year-round habitat for large populations of wading birds, waterbirds, and shorebirds. The refuge along with its companion refuges, Brazoria and San Bernard, were designated an Internationally Significant Shorebird Site by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. The refuge is a stronghold for the threatened eastern black rail with dense upper saltmarsh prairies that hide the bird from overhead predators. Dressing Point Island, located 1.5 miles south of the primary refuge in East Matagorda Bay, is a prominent colonial waterbird rookery. The small island comes alive in the spring, as brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills, egrets, herons, gulls and terns find nesting locations. Although battered by wave action and rising sea levels, efforts are underway to restore some of the lost acreage and elevate the island so that it will remain productive for years to come. Big Boggy is truly “for the birds”. Except for seasonal waterfowl hunting and fishing in Boggy Creek, the 4,526-acre refuge is closed for public use.