Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge

Located in the southern part of Albany County, Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge consists of 3 parcels of land totalling 1,116 acres around Bamforth Lake. The property is interspersed with State and private land. Bamforth Lake sits at the bottom of a mostly state-owned basin and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service owns about 100 acres of the 550-acre lake bottom.

Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge was established by Executive Order to provide breeding grounds for birds and other wildlife back in 1932. The Refuge contains 2 main habitats: a grassland/greasewood upland and an alkali flats/marsh and water lowland. As there is no public access to the Refuge, the largest user of the property is a large nesting colony of California gulls. With the cooperation of adjacent landowners, Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge is managed to preserve and protect the wildlife habitats found here. This activity includes water and grazing management.

Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge is administered out of the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge office in Walden, Colorado.