Expanded hunting approved on 4 Arizona wildlife refuges in 2021

With approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, expanded hunting opportunities on national wildlife refuges for the 2020-2021 seasons now include Cabeza Prieta, Cibola, Buenos Aires and Leslie Canyon wildlife refuges.
Hunting opportunities are authorized and provided on USFWS-managed lands in accordance with federal, state and tribal (where applicable) regulations and seasons. The amendments, unanimously passed by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission during a public meeting in 2020 in Greer, broaden opportunities to hunt several species of small game, migratory birds and predators/furbearers in these refuges. With the approval, the 2,765-acre Leslie Canyon refuge is open to hunters for the first time since its establishment in 1988.

The parcel tucked into the Chiricahua Mountains protects a rare riparian region.

The other three southern Arizona refuges with expanded hunting are the 117,464-acre Buenos Aires, the 18,444-acre Cibola on the lower Colorado River and the 860,000-acre Cabeza Prieta.

Many predators such as mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats are included in the expanded hunting proposal.