Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, contains more than 32,000 acres of wildlife habitat and was designated by executive order of President Herbert Hoover on March 26, 1930, as a refuge and breeding ground for birds. Part of the southwest region of the National Wildlife Refuge System, it has been designated critical habitat for the endangered whooping crane, a site of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, a Globally Important Birding Area, and a Registered Natural Landmark. The refuge is divided into almost equal parts of salt flats, open water, and upland habitat, and includes wetlands, timberlands, prairie, and farmlands that support a wide diversity of wildlife throughout the year. Its most distinctive feature is an 11,000 acre salt flat region, the largest such saline flat in the central lowlands of North America, and the only place in the world where selenite crystals with a unique hourglass-shaped sand inclusion are found; in April 2005, the selenite crystal became the State Crystal of Oklahoma.

Photo: Jason Armstrong

Nescatunga, Oklahoma · USA