Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in central Georgia covers 35,000 acres of land that had been exhausted by decades of farming. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, settlers cleared most of the original forest for crops, especially cotton, and continuous cultivation eroded the soil so badly that much of the land was abandoned by the 1930s. Established in 1939, the refuge gradually recovered through soil and forest conservation into an upland forest of pines, hardwoods, streams, and wetlands. It now supports rich wildlife, including more than 200 bird species, 50 mammal species, and an important endangered red-cockaded woodpecker population.