Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR Act
In 1986 it was discovered that the absence of human activity had made the area an involuntary park when a winter communal roost of bald eagles, then an endangered species, was discovered on site. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service soon realized that more than 330 species of wildlife inhabit the Arsenal including deer, coyotes, white pelicans and owls.
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Act was passed in October 1992 and signed by then President George H. W. Bush. It stipulates that the majority of the site will become a National Wildlife Refuge under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service when the environmental restoration is completed. The Act also provides that to the extent possible, parts of the Arsenal are to be managed as a Refuge in the interim. Finally, the Act provides for the transfer of some Arsenal land for road expansion around the perimeter of the Arsenal and 915 acres (3.70 km²) to be sold for development and annexation by Commerce City.
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