Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Ulster County, New York, preserves 565 acres of former military airfield as one of the region’s rare grassland habitats. Built in the early 1940s as Galeville Army Air Field on filled swampland, the site later passed from military use to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999. Its open fields, remaining runways, and surrounding woodland now support an unusually rich bird population, including many grassland-dependent species and notable raptors such as the short-eared owl. Active management keeps the former wet ground from reverting to swamp and woodland, making the refuge both an important conservation area and a popular birding destination.