Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge – Ellsworth NE

Site Type:
Wildlife Refuges, Parks and Recreation, Forestry and Agriculture, Lodges, Ranger Stations and Visitor Centers, Park Roads and Bridges, Fire Lookouts, Fences

New Deal Agencies:
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Conservation and Public Lands, Work Relief Programs, Bureau of Biological Survey, Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Quality of Information:
Moderate

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1931 under the Hoover Administration, but was not improved until President Franklin Roosevelt came into office in 1933. The refuge lies on the southwestern edge of the Sand Hills of Nebraska and it 45,000+ acres include one of the great wilderness areas of the NWR system.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “The earliest government actions on the Refuge were tree planting and small construction projects by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Projects Administration (WPA). The CCC built several buildings still in use today at the Refuge headquarters. The WPA built roads, fences, and other facilities, such as the fire tower, and several buildings at the headquarters site.”

According to CCC alumnus Charles E. Humberger, “A stable, clay-based road was con­structed through the refuge, along with other minor roads to key points. Bound­ary fencing was built and wildlife habitat improvements made. Considerable work was accomplished to improve the buildings and facilities at the refuge headquarters.”

Source notes

Charles E Humberger, “The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nebraska: Memoirs of Company 762,” Nebraska History 75 (1994): 292-300, accessed August 14, 2014.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Crescent_Lake/about.html

 

Site originally submitted by Brent McKee on July 21, 2015.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.

Location Info


10630 Road 181
Ellsworth, Nebraska 69340
Sheridan County

Coordinates: 41.720157, -102.312429

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