Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a 2,088-acre protected area along the Rio Grande in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, established in 1943 to preserve one of the region’s last remnants of subtropical riparian forest and protect migratory birds. Known for exceptionally high biodiversity, it includes old river channels, mudflats, bottomland forest, riparian terraces, and upland thorn forest, and preserves one of the largest old-growth tracts left in the valley. The land also holds a deep human history, from Coahuiltecan use over 11,000 years to the Santa Ana land grant and ranch era. Today it remains important for conservation, especially for birdlife and species at the northern edge of their range.