In April 2022, again in support of the Biden-Harris administration’s “American the Beautiful” initiative, AVSO played a part in the expansion of the Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge in New Orleans, Louisiana through its involvement in the acquisition of the Little Pine Island tract. The acquisition added 2,500 acres of tidal marshes and hardwood forests to the Refuge.  At nearly 30,000 acres, Bayou Sauvage is the nation’s second largest urban refuge and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.