Description:
Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge lies at the upper Washita arm of Lake Texoma and is administered for the benefit of migratory waterfowl in the Central Flyway. Most of the refuge's 16,464 acres, including the 4,500-acre Cumberland Pool, were acquired in 1946. The refuge gets its name from a famous Chickasaw Indian Chief and is shared with a nearby century-old town.
The refuge offers a variety of aquatic habitats for wildlife. The murky water of Cumberland Pool provides abundant nutrients for innumerable microscopic plants and animals. Seasonally flooded flats and willow shallows lying at the Pool's edge also provide excellent wildlife habitat. Upland areas vary from grasslands to wild plum thickets to oak-hickory-elm woodlands. Crops, primarily wheat and corn, are grown on approximately 900 acres to provide forage and grain for waterfowl.