Look in any direction at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge and you look back to an earlier time along the Gulf Coast. The landscape is flat, like a prairie. The ground, blanketed with impervious clay soil, is waterlogged and acidic. Yet here, a rich, colorful blend of rare orchids, carnivorous plants and other ground cover thrive under the scattered pines in one of the most species-rich plant communities in North America. This is the wet pine savanna ecosystem – the critical habitat for endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes, migratory songbirds and waterfowl, and many other wildlife species. The refuge protects and restores the last remaining wet pine savanna in the United States, and thus, ensures the survival of the rare and magnificent Mississippi sandhill crane.