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Featured Item
European Starling
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This European Starling carving was hand-crafted from solid Basswood. The breeding plumage of the adult European Starling is iridescent black and includes a yellow bill with a blue base in the male and a pink base in the female. In fresh fall plumage, the feathers are tipped with white and buff, giving a speckled appearance. The bill is brownish. In flight, you will note the short, square tail, stocky body and short, broad-based pointed wings that appear pale-gray from below. The juvenile is gray-brown, with a brown bill. The call notes include squeaks, warbles, chirps, and twittering and it also imitates songs of other species. A Eurasian species introduced in New York in 1890-91, it soon spread across the continent. Abundant, bold and aggressive, it often competes successfully with native species for nest holes. Outside the nesting season, it is usually seen in large flocks.
Reference
National Geographic Field Guide To The Birds of North America, Fifth Edition, Page 366
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The National Wildlife Refuge System came into being on March 14, 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
There are currently 548 national wildlife refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, encompassing some 96,373,969 total acres. Every state in the nation maintains at least one refuge, while most states have several.
The primary objective for the establishment and maintaining of most of these refuges is to provide a suitable habitat and sanctuary for migratory and / or endangered species of wildlife.
While some of these are not open or accessible to the public, most of these refuges are available for recreational use. In fact, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recreational usage of the national refuges generates almost $2 Billion annually in total economic activity.
On these pages, we are providing links and very brief descriptions of each of these refuges. These will be organized by Region with sub-divisions by State. There are currently seven regions – Pacific, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, Mountain-Prairie, and Alaska.
Since the Southeast region is our home, we began this project with Region 4 which is made up of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, South Carolina and finally Tennessee. We will be adding the information for the remaining USF & W Refuges as quickly as we can complete the research, verify the links, etc. Please check back often to see what we have added. Also, we invite you to email us with any comments and ideas you might have which would make this site more attractive or useful.
If you want to see many of the birds in their natural habitat that we have here in their carved likeness, you are sure to find your next excursion destination on these pages. Enjoy!
Alabama
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
The Bon Secour NWR contains 7,000 acres of wildlife habitat for migratory birds, nesting sea turtles and the endangered Alabama beach mouse. The refuge was established by congress in 1980 to preserve the coastal dune ecosystem, to protect threatened and endangered species, to provide compatible recreational opportunities, and to serve as a living laboratory for students and scientists.
Choctaw National Wildlife
Established in 1964, the Choctaw National Wildlife refuge is comprised of 4,218 acres plus 236 acres in perpetual conservation easements in eight parcels in Monroe, Sumter and Conecuh counties. The refuge is located 10 miles northwest of Coffeeville, Alabama across the Tombigbee River and north of Highway 84, in Southwest Alabama, approximately 80 miles north of Mobile.
Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge
The Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1964 and is made up of 11,184 acres in Barbour and Russell counties in Alabama and Stewart and Quitman counties in Georgia. Most of Alabama portion of refuge lies within Eufaula city limits. The refuge is located 5 miles north of Eufaula, Alabama on U.S. Hwy 431 then 1 and 1/2 miles on 165 north.
Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Established in 1992, the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 14,000 acres in Jackson County, Mississippi and Mobile County, Alabama. This refuge is located about 10 miles east of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and 20 miles southwest of Mobile, Alabama. The office is currently located on Bayou Heron Road.
Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge
The Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge is situated within the Southern Appalachian Mountain Range between Atlanta, Georgia (90 miles) and Birmingham, Alabama (60 miles). The refuge was established May 29, 2003 on the former military training lands of Fort McClellan. Mountain Longleaf NWR became the 542nd refuge in the country.
Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge was established July 7,1938 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first National Wildlife Refuge placed on a multi-purpose reservoir. It is comprised of 35,000 acres. Wheeler NWR is located between Decatur and Huntsville in the Tennessee River Valley of northern Alabama. Home to Alabama's largest wintering duck population and supports the southern-most and Alabama's only concentration of wintering Canada geese (Southern James Bay Population).
Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge
Fern Cave NWR was purchased in 1981 “... to conserve (A) fish or wildlife which are listed as endangered species or threatened species... or (B) plants... U.S.C. 1534 (Endangered Species Act of 1973).” Fern Cave NWR consists of 199 acres of forested hillside underlain by a massive cave with many stalactite and stalagmite-filled rooms. The cave has five hidden entrances with four occurring on the Refuge. Fern Cave contains the largest wintering colony of gray bats in the United States with over one million bats hibernating there in the winter. Bat experts also think that as many as one million Indiana bats may be using the cave. The endangered American Hart's-tongue fern also occurs on the Refuge and many species of resident wildlife such as deer, squirrels, and turkey are common.
Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge
The Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1997 “... to conserve (A) fish or wildlife which are listed as endangered species or threatened species... or (B) plants... U.S.C. 1534 (Endangered Species Act of 1973).” Key Cave NWR consists of hardwood forests, grasslands and croplands. In 2005, about 295 acres were in corn and soybean production. It is located about 5 miles southwest of Florence, Alabama. It provides habitat for Alabama cavefish and gray bats. Several bird species that are of management concern also use Key Cave NWR’s grasslands. These species include grasshopper sparrows, dickcissels, northern harriers, short-eared owls, loggerhead shrikes, and northern bobwhites.
Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge
Sauta Cave NWR was purchased in 1978 “... to conserve (A) fish or wildlife which are listed as endangered species or threatened species... or (B) plants... U.S.C. 1534 (Endangered Species Act of 1973).” documented more than 300,000 - 400,000 gray bats. In addition to the rare fauna within the cave, the federally threatened Price's potato bean occurs on the Refuge.
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Arkansas
Cache River National Wildlife Refuge
The Cache River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1986 and is comprised of 64,00 acres. The refuge is located in the 10-year flood plain of the Cache River from its confluence with the White River near Clarendon, Arkansas to Grubbs, Arkansas, an air-mile distance of approximately 70 miles. With a large concentrations of wintering waterfowl during the winter, it is recognized as a Wetland of International Importance by the RAMSAR Convention and the most important wintering area for mallards by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.
Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge
The Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1993 on 14,900 acres, located in White County, Arkansas. It is approximately two miles south of Bald Knob, Arkansason Coal Chute Road. The Refuge occupies a large rice culture based farm purchased from John Hancock Insurance Company. Large concentrations of migratory waterfowl and bald eagles during the winter.
Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge
The Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1970 on 65,000 acres in Ashley, Bradley, and Union County, Arkansas. The refuge is located 5 miles west of Crossett, Arkansas on Highway 82. Felsenthal is the world's largest green-tree reservoir consisting of the 15,000-acre Felsenthal Pool that is more than doubled to 36,000 acres during winter flooding. One of the refuge's primary objectives is to provide habitat and protection for endangered species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, and the threatened American alligator and bald eagle.
Overflow National Wildlife Refuge
The Overflow National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 on 12,247 acres in Ashely County, Arkansas. The major refuge objectives include providing a diversity of habitat types for migratory waterfowl and other birds. It also provide habitat and protection for threatened bald eagle.
Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge
The Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1994 and is comprised of 27,500 acres in Sevier County, Arkansas. The refuge objectives include: Protect the area’s wetland and bottomland hardwood habitat for natural diversity of wildlife; Provide habitat for neo-tropical migratory birds; Provide wintering habitat for migratory waterfowl; Provide breeding and nesting habitat for wood ducks.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge
One of the older state refuges, the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1957 on 7,057 acres (fee ownership of 6,616 acres and management of 441 acres included in a migratory bird closure area around the refuge). Situated in Pope and Yell counties, Arkansas, the refuge is located 6 miles south of Dardanelle, Arkansas, just off of State Highway 155 east. The Refuge lies along the Arkansas River and is bounded by an old oxbow that was created when the Army Corps of Engineers cut a channel through the bend in the river to promote navigation and flood control. The refuge protects 7,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods and wetlands and provides habitat for wintering waterfowl, bald and golden eagles and migratory song birds.
Logan Cave National Wildlife Refuge
The Logan Cave National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 on 123 acres in Benton County, Arkansas. The refuge is located between Siloam Springs and Springdale, Arkansas. The primary objectives of Logan Cave NWR are to properly administer, preserve and develop the 123-acre area for protection of a unique cave ecosystem that provides essential habitat for the two endangered species, the gray bat and the cave crayfish and one threatened species, the Ozark cavefish.
Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge
Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1961 on 5,484 acres in Crittenden County Arkansas, 3 miles from the Mississippi River. Adjacent to the city of Turrell. The refuge provides habitat for wintering migratory waterfowl and other birds as well as nesting wood ducks.
Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge
The Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1915 on 11,038 acres of land located in Mississippi County, Arkansas 18 miles west of the Mississippi River. Once a portion of the Mississippi River, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 created the characteristics that made the refuge a hunter/fisherman paradise. An extensive network of man-made ditches in the Missouri Bootheel drains approximately 2,000 square miles of farmland directly through the refuge detrimentally affecting the area. Concentrations of wintering and migrating ducks, Bald eagle and osprey nests.
White River National Wildlife
White River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 for the protection of migratory birds. The refuge lies in the floodplain of the White River near where it meets the mighty Mississippi River. Long and narrow, three to ten miles wide and almost ninety miles long, the refuge is one of the largest remaining bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi River Valley. The refuge's fertile forests and three hundred lakes are interlaced with streams, sloughs, and bayous. The result is a haven for a myriad of native wildlife and migratory birds.
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Florida
Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge
The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1991 on 900n acres in Brevard County, Florida. The twenty mile section of coastline from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach in Florida is the most important nesting area for loggerhead sea turtles in the western hemisphere and the second most important nesting beach in the world.
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is located seven miles west of the city of Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County, Florida. With over 221 square miles of Everglades habitat, A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is home to the American alligator and the endangered Everglades snail kite. In any given year, as many as 257 species of birds may use the refuge's diverse wetland habitats.
Caloosahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
The Caloosahatchee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1920 on 40 acres adjacent to interstate 75 on the Caloosahatchee River in Lee County within the city of Ft. Myers, Florida. One of the major objectives of the refuge is to protect and provide suitable habitat for endangered and threatened species including the West Indian manatee, wood stork, eastern indigo snake, American crocodile, and bald eagle.
Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge
The Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1929, consists of a group of 13 fragile coastal islands just off the town of Cedar Key, Florida. These 13 islands range in size from 1 to 120 acres, giving the refuge a total size of 762 acres. Wading birds, shorebirds, fishes, manatees, bald eagles, crabs, and even reptiles are some of the species of wildlife that find their habitat here.
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is located about 65 miles north of St. Petersburg, the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of over 31,000 acres of saltwater bays, estuaries and brackish marshes with a fringe of hardwood swamps along the eastern boundary. Established in 1943 primarily to benefit waterfowl in an area long famous as a wintering area for ducks and coots, today the refuge has become increasingly important for the endangered West Indian manatees which utilize many of the refuge’s tidal bays, creeks and rivers.
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge
The Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 on 6,600 acres in Monroe County Florida, covering a large portion of north Key Largo, Florida. The major objectives of the refuge include providing habitat and protection for Federally listed threatened and endangered species; providing habitat and protection for migratory birds; and protection of the globally endangered tropical hardwood hammock plant community.
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1983 is located on 80 acres in Citrus County, Florida, 75 miles north of St. Petersburg, Florida and is accessible only by boat. Made up of 20 islands and several small parcels of land surrounded by the crystal clear, spring fed waters of Kings Bay. The refuge aids in preserving Florida's most significant naturally occurring warm water habitat for the manatee and provides critical habitat for approximately 25 percent of the nation's endangered Florida manatee population.
Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge
The Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 on 329 acres in Hillsborough County, Florida. Located off shore from the town of St. Petersburg, FL and accessible only by boat, the refuge’s beach and upland habitat support more than 117 species of birds including brown pelicans, terns, and other colonial nesting water birds.
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Located within the heart of the Big Cypress Basin in southwest Florida, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge is located 20 miles east of Naples, Florida on 26,400 acres. The refuge was established in 1989 under the authority of the Endangered Species Act to protect the Florida panther and its habitat.
Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge
The Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1938 on 123,980 acres in Monroe County, Florida. The primary objective of the refuge is to provide a refuge and breeding ground for great white herons, other migratory birds and other wildlife
Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge
The Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1969 on 1,035 acres in Martin County, Florida. The primary objectives of the refuge include providing and protecting some of the most productive sea turtle nesting areas on Florida east coast as well as providing a suitable habitat for 30 threatened and endangered species including the scrub jay and gopher tortoise.
Island Bay National Wildlife Refuge
The Island Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1908 on 20 acres in the Cape Haze area of Charlotte Harbor, Florida, southwest of Punta Gorda. The refuge has as it's primary objective to provide suitable habitat for endangered and threatened species including the West Indian manatee, wood stork, eastern indigo snake, American crocodile and bald eagle.
J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Located on the subtropical barrier island of Sanibel in the Gulf of Mexico, the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States. It is world famous for its spectacular migratory bird populations.
Key West National Wildlife Refuge
The Key West National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1908 on 189,497 acres in Monroe County Florida. Located 140 miles southwest of Miami, the refuge serves as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife. It also provides habitat and protection for endangered and threatened fish, wildlife, plants and migratory birds.
Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
The Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is composed of 1,857 acres in Polk and Highlands Counties, Florida. Established in 1993, this refuge was the first to be primarily concerned with the recovery of endangered and threatened plants.
Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge
The Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1964 on 21,552 acres in west Volusia County and Lake County in Florida. This refuge serves as a safe harbor for several endangered and threatened species including manatee, snail kite, wood stork, bald eagle, limpkin, indigo snake, gopher tortoise and American alligator.
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge as established in 1979 encompasses 53,000 acres. Among the residents of this refuge include Swallow-tailed kites, bald eagles, West Indian manatees, Gulf sturgeon, white-tailed deer, and eastern wild turkeys among many others.
Matlacha Pass National Wildlife Refuge
The Matlacha Pass National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1908 on 538 acres in Lee Count Florida. Encompassing 23 islands, this wetlands refuge provides sanctuary and habitat for the West Indian manatee, wood stork, eastern indigo snake, American crocodile and bald eagle.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 140,000 acres and is part of the John F. Kennedy space Center. With seven different and distinct habitat types, this refuge is home to over 500 species of wildlife. Closed to the public during Shuttle launch days, several wading bird rookeries, 10 active bald eagle nests, numerous osprey nests, up to 400 manatees during spring months, and an estimated 2,500 Florida scrub jays can be found on the refuge.
National Key Deer Refuge
The National Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957 on 84,00 acres in Monroe County, Florida. With protecting the endangered Florida Key deer population as one of it's main objectives, this refuge is home to the imperiled tropical hardwood hammock habitat and 22 federally listed endangered and threatened species of plants and animals, five of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge
The Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 1905 and is located on a 30 acre barrier island in Manatee County, Florida. Currently closed to the public, the refuge is provides a feeding and resting habitat for colonial water birds including laughing gulls, royal terns, black skimmers, sandwich terns, brown pelicans and oyster catchers.
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1903 on 5,413 acres in Indian River County, Florida has the distinction of being the very, first National Wildlife refuge in the United States. One of the primary objectives of this refuge is to protect the historic rookery on Pelican Island.
Pine Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Pine Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1908 on 602 acres on the southwest coast of Florida north of Sanibel Island in Pine Island Sound. Encompassing 17 islands, the refuge has a primary objective to protect and provide suitable habitat for endangered and threatened species including the West Indian manatee, wood stork, eastern indigo snake, American crocodile and bald eagle.
Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge
The Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1951 on 394 acres in Pinellas County, Florida. Accessible only by boat, the primary objective of the refuge is to provide nesting habitat for endangered brown pelicans and other water birds.
St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge
The St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1971 on 6,194 acres, approximately 50 miles west of Titusville, Florida. Closed to the public since its establishment, the refuge was initially created to help restore the marsh to its original condition through a carefully prescribed burning program.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 and is composed of 68,000 acres along the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida. Consisting of coastal marshes, islands and tidal creeks, this refuge is also home of the St. Marks Lighthouse which has been in use since 1832.
St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge
The St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1968 on 12,490 acres in Franklin and Gulf counties in Florida. Among the wildlife species which find refuge here are the American alligator, bald eagle, indigo snake, red wolf and sea turtle.
Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge
The Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1996 on 35,000 acres in Collier County, Florida. The wide assortment of migratory wildlife here includes wood storks, water birds, and shorebirds. The refuge also provides permanent habitat for manatees and loggerhead sea turtles.
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Georgia
Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge
The Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1985 on 3,559 acres in Lanier County, Georgia. With an estimated 20,000 visitors each year, the refuge strives to provide the optimum habitat for a wide diversity of native fauna and flora
Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 5,618 acres, 3,000 of which has been designated as National Wilderness. The refuge is home to several species of threatened and endangered wildlife including the wood stork which has continued to flourish here. Other endangered species found here include the American alligator, American bald eagle, Leatherback sea turtle, Loggerhead sea turtle and the Piping Plover.
Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
The Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 on 6,500 acres in the Ocmulgee River floodplain in the Macon, Georgia area. Bond Swamp contains a great diversity of habitat types ranging from mixed hardwood/pine ridges to bottomland hardwoods and swamp forests mixed with creeks, beaver swamps and oxbow lakes.
Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
The Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1962 on 2,824 acres of saltwater marsh, grassland, mixed deciduous woods and cropland in McIntosh County, GA. The diverse habitat afforded by the refuge provide home to egrets, herons, wood storks, mallards, gadwall and teal.
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1936 to preserve and protect the Okefenokee Swamp. Currently, 353,981 acres of the refuge has been designated a National Wilderness Area. The 60,00 acres of prairies in the swamp provide a safe harbor for a variety of wading birds including herons, egrets, ibises, cranes, and bitterns.
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge
The Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 in central Georgia, near Macon, on 35,000 acres as a "combination wildlife and game-management demonstration area" to demonstrate that wildlife could be restored on worn out, eroded lands. Today, it has been successfully turned back into a flourishing forest supporting great numbers of wildlife and migrating waterfowl.
Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1975 on 4,053 acres near Hilton Head, South Carolina, includes four islands: Pinckney Island, Corn Island, Big Harry and Little Harry Islands, Buzzard Island and numerous small hammocks. Pinckney Island is the only one of the four that is open to the public.
Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge
The Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge was designated a National Wildlife Refuge in 1969 and is located 14 miles southeast of Savannah, Georgia. The 10,053-acre refuge includes beaches with rolling dunes, live oak and slash pine woodlands, and vast salt marshes. The refuge is home to egrets, herons and a wide variety of wading birds.
Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1930 in McIntosh County, Georgia, as a migratory bird sanctuary. In 1975, Wolf island was designated as a National Wilderness Area. Some of the endangered species found here include loggerhead sea turtle and piping plover.
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Kentucky
Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge
The Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1997 on 8,500 acres in Marshall, McCracken, and Graves County, Kentucky. Primary objectives of the refuge include providing a wintering habitat for migratory waterfowl as well as habitat for non-game migratory birds.
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Louisiana
Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge
The Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1984 on 15,000 acres near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The refuge provides a safe habitat for the American Bald Eagle and the Louisiana Black Bear. Also in residence are White-tailed deer, Eastern wild turkey, the spectacular swallow-tailed kite, and neo-tropical migratory birds
Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge
The Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1992 on 11,255 acres in Corcordia Parrish, Louisiana. Primary objectives of the refuge include providing a wintering habitat for migratory waterfowl and protecting pristine, Mississippi River Delta bottomland hardwoods.
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge
The Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 on 23,000 acres within the city limits of New Orleans, Louisiana. The refuge provides a safe habitat for endangered brown pelican and bald eagle, as well as numerous species of Waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, marsh rabbits, white pelicans, alligators, and other raptors, game and small mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge
The Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge was established on 9,028 acres in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana in 2001. There are a large number of the endangered Louisiana black bear on the refuge as well as alligators, wading birds, ducks and bald eagles.
Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
The Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1994 on 15,000 acres in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. The refuge is home to endangered species of Red-cockaded woodpecker, bald eagle and brown pelican as well as large quantities of Rabbit, turkey, various neo-tropical birds, deer, squirrel, migratory waterfowl, wading birds.
Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge
The Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1997 on 4,600 acres just south of Monroe, Louisiana. The refuge, including a 1600-acre, shallow, cypress-studded lake provides a safe habitat for wetland dependent fish and wildlife.
Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge
The Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 on 36,000 acres of the Pearl River Basin, near Slidell, Louisiana. Some of the endangered species found on the refuge include Bald eagle, ringed-sawback turtle, gopher tortoise, inflated heel-splitter mussel, Gulf sturgeon and the swallow-tailed kite.
Breton National Wildlife Refuge
The Breton National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1904 on 13,000 acres in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes in Louisiana, making it the second-oldest National Wildlife Refuge in the United States. The refuge not only boasts the largest tern colony in the nation, but it also is home to the largest nesting colony of endangered Eastern brown pelicans in the southeast region.
Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge
The Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It was established in 1988 on 9,621 acres in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. In testatement to the successful conservation here, this area that was once overused rice fields the refuge is habitat to alligators, cottonmouth snakes, white-tailed deer, rabbits, roseate spoonbills, and more than 200 other birds.
Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 2000 on 9,463 acres in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. The refuge is an important habitat for neotropical migratory birds, including the swallow-tailed kite. Also, other abundant wildlife here include white-tailed deer, bobcat, mink, river otter, wild turkey, black-crowned night-heron, wood duck, blue-winged teal, woodcock, solitary sandpiper, greater yellowlegs, prothonotary warbler, northern parula, pileated woodpecker, green treefrog, and red-eared slider.
Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge
The Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1958 on 25,242 acres in LaSalle and Catahoula Parishes in Louisiana. Refuge residents include white-tailed deer, small game mammals, songbirds, raptors, water birds, reptiles and amphibians from alligators to cricket frogs.
D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge
The D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1975 on 17,419 acres in Ouachita and Union parishes Louisiana. The refuge provides a safe habitat for endangered bald eagle, wood stork and red-cockaded woodpecker.
Delta National Wildlife Refuge
The Delta National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 on 49,000 acres in Lower Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The refuge serves as a welcoming habitat for the endangered species American alligator, brown pelican, Arctic peregrine falcon, and piping plover.
Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge
The Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 on 6,077 acres in Avoyelles Parish in the central part of the state of Louisiana. The primary habitat concerns for the refuge include providing shallow flooded habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds during August through March.
Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge
The Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 on 20,000 acres near West Monroe, Louisiana. The primary objectives of the refuge are centered on providing a safe and suitable habitats for various endangered species, waterfowl, and other migratory and resident wildlife.
Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge
The Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge is one of the four refuges which make up the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Established in 1937 on 34,886 acres this refuge is located in Cameron and Evangeline Parishes, Louisiana. The LNWR is one of the major wintering areas for pintail duck in the country, with a winter population of nearly 400,000.
Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge
The Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1988 on 17,500 acres in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. The primary objectives of the refuge concern providing shallow flooded habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds.
Louisiana Wetland Management District
The Louisiana Wetland Management District was established in 1990 and is responsible for overseeing 25,710 acres in 20 different parishes of Louisiana. Refuge acreage is all off unavailable to the public and is primarily fallow agricultural fields that once were bottomland hardwood forests. Many of these tracts have been reforested with hardwood trees.
Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge
The Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 1996 on 4,212 acres in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. The primary objective of the refuge is to provide a high quality habitat for migratory bird species. Various species of wildlife are abundant, including alligators, wading birds, ducks and bald eagles.
Red River National Wildlife Refuge
The Red River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2002 on 50,000 acres along Red River between Colfax, Louisiana and Arkansas state line. The major objectives of the refuge are to Provide for restoration and conservation of native plants and animal communities on suitable sites in the Red River Valley, and to provide habitat for migratory birds.
Sabine National Wildlife Refuge
The Sabine National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge was established in 1937 on 124,511 acres of costal marsh land and is currently closed to all public access due to damages caused by Hurricane Rita.
Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge
The Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge is one of the four refuges which make up the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This refuge was established in 1907 to protect part of the eroding coastline of Louisiana. Access to the refuge is by boat only. The refuge provides habitat for the endangered brown pelican.
Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge
The Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 on 64,012 acres in Madison, Tensas and Franklin parishes in Louisiana. Primary habitat concerns are for migratory birds and Louisiana black bears.
Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge
The Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1978 on 40,000 acres in Union and Morehouse parishes in Louisiana. In addition to providing habitat for migratory birds, the refuge supports concentrations of ducks, geese, wading birds, raptors and a small wintering population of bald eagles.
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Mississippi
Coldwater River National Wildlife Refuge
The Coldwater River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1991 on 2,508 acres in Tallahatchie and Quitman counties, Mississippi. The refuge acreage were originally all agricultural and contained 25 old catfish ponds. It has now been transformed into a successful winter habitat for migratory birds of many different species.
Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge
The Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 on 9,691 acres in Bolivar County, Mississippi. The refuge provides a wintering habitat for large numbers of migratory birds as well as supports an impressive population of white-tailed deer and eastern wild turkey.
Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge
The Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1992 on 14,000 acres in Jackson County, Mississippi and Mobile County, Alabama. The refuge frequently provides habitat for the threatened gopher tortoise, the threatened bald eagle, the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, and the endangered brown pelican.
Hillside National Wildlife Refuge
The Hillside National Wildlife Refuge was formed in 1975 on 15,572 acres in the Yazoo Basin in Mississippi. The refuge provides a wintering habitat for over 200 species of migratory birds, including mallards, American wigeon, gadwall, northern shoveler, teal, scaup, and ring-necked ducks and others. A raptor population includes the red-tailed hawk, northern harrier, American kestrel, and Mississippi kite.
Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge
The Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge, originally established in 2004 on 1,400 acres near Greenville, Mississippi was the recent recipient of an additional 633 acre donation. One of seven refuges in the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the refuge provides habitat and resources for more than 250 songbirds.
Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge
The Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 on 2,418 acres in the west-central Mississippi county of Lefore. Mathews Brake on the refuge supports a wintering population of over 30,000 ducks and about 200 species of other migratory birds such as the prothonotary warbler.
Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge
The Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1975 on something more than 19,000 acres in Jackson County on the Mississippi gulf coast. The primary objective for this refuge is to safeguard the critically endangered Mississippi sandhill crane.
Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuge
The Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1977 on 7,383 acres in west central Mississippi, on the extreme eastern edge of the Mississippi/Yazoo River Alluvial Plain and the loess hills in Holmes County. The refuge provides a wintering habitat for over 250 species of birds and a large winter duck population of over 100,000.
Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge
The Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1940 on a 48,000 acre tract of land near Brooksville, Mississippi in Noxubee, Oktibbeha, and Winston counties. This restored pine and hardwood forest provide exclusive habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.
Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
The Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1978 on 38,697 acres in Yazoo and Humphreys Counties of Mississippi. The refuge provides a winter resting and feeding area for over 100,000 waterfowl each year in addition to providing habitat for over 200 species of neotropial migratory songbirds.
St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge
The St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 and at present encompasses some 24,442 acres in southwest Mississippi. Primary objectives of the refuge are the provision of a suitable habitat for migratory waterfowl as well as habitat and protection for various endangered species including the Bald Eagle.
Tallahatchie National Wildlife Refuge
The Tallahatchie National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 on 4,083 acres in Grenada and Tallahatchie counties, Mississippi. Prior to establishment of the refuge, all the refuge acreage were used for agricultural purposes. Approximately 1/3 of the lands have since been reforested and provide a fine habitat for several species of migratory waterfowl.
Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge
The Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2004 on 6,600 scattered acres which were formerly Farmers Home Administration lands. Currently closed to the public, the efforts are underway to reforest additional acreage of the refuge to provide habitat for the endangered Louisiana black bear.
Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge
Originally established in 1936, the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge is the oldest wildlife refuge in the state of Mississippi. Through various acquisitions and grants, the refuge now totals some 12,941 acres of Mississippi delta land. In addition to the winter visits from various migratory species, the refuge is also frequently visited by white ibis, glossy ibis, little blue and great blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets and a wide variety of wintering dabbling and diving ducks.
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North Carolina
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1984 on 152,000 acres in Dare and Hyde Counties, North Carolina. Present conservation efforts on the refuge include the re-introduction and nurturing of the endangered red wolf.
Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1964 on 14,480 acres in Carteret County, North Carolina. Highlighted by a relatively undisturbed coastal marsh, the refuge is home to large numbers of diving ducks (lesser scaups, redheads, canvasbacks, buffleheads), sea ducks, American black ducks, black rails, wading birds, and shorebirds in addition to shorebird and osprey.
Currituck National Wildlife Refuge
The Currituck National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1984 on 4,103 acres Currituck County, North Carolina. The primary objectives of the refuge include protecting and improving the last remaining habitat of the endangered or threatened piping plover, loggerhead sea turtle and seabeach amaranth.
Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1960 on 8,219 acres in Currituck County, North Carolina and the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The refuge is home to several endangered species including peregrine falcons and American bald eagles.
Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge
The Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1934 on 50,180 acres in Hyde County, North Carolina. In addition to providing habitat for migratory waterfowl and other birds, the refuge objectives include nurturing such endangered species as the bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and American alligators.
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 on 5,834 acres of land and approximately 25,700 acres of water on the north end of Hateras Island and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Primary objectives of the refuge include providing a suitable, nesting, resting, and wintering habitat for migratory birds, including the greater snow geese and other migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, raptors, and neotropical migrants.
Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge
The Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 on 8,443 acres in Anson and Richmond counties of North Carolina. The refuge objectives include providing habitat for migratory waterfowl and other song birds as well as various threatened and endangered species of wildlife.
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
The Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 on 12,000 acres and has since grown through donation to 110,106 acres in Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties, North Carolina. In addition to supporting migratory birds, the refuge is helping to protect and enhance a unique type of wetlands called pocosin, a southeastern shrub bog characterized by a very dense growth of mostly broadleaf evergreen shrubs with scattered pond pine.
Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge
The Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 on 17,500 acres in Bertie County, North Carolina. In addition to providing habitat for various wintering waterfowl, nesting ducks, raptors, osprey, the refuge is also home to bald eagles, the endangered short nose sturgeon as well as the largest inland heron rookery in North Carolina.
Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge
The Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1932 on 16,411 acres on the north shore of Pamlico Sound in North Carolina. The refuge is home to a large assortment of wildlife including several species of diving ducks (lesser scaups, redheads, buffleheads, canvasbacks, and surf scoters), sea ducks, American black ducks, wading birds and shorebirds.
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Puerto Rico
Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge
The Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 along the coastal plain of southwestern Puerto Rico and has grown over the years to it's current size of 1,836 acres. This refuge is considered the most important stop over for migratory and shorebirds in the Caribbean.
Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge
The Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1976 on 360 acres on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The refuge is attempting to restore its once flourishing and historic seabird colonies in an area that was once the world's largest brown booby nesting place.
Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge
The Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 on 1,059 acres in Maguayo, Puerto Rico. The refuge is working diligently to restore what was once one of the most important freshwater habitats for migrating birds in the area. Species that have been spotted here include Frigatebird, several species of herons, smooth -billed Ani and occasionally the Yellow-shouldered Blackbird.
Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1999 on 1,147 acres on Navassa Island, Puerto Rico. The refuge is host to several large seabird colonies including over 5,000 nesting Red footed booby.
Vieques National Wildlife Refuge
The Vieques National Wildlife Refuge was initially established in 2001 on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico and has grown to a current size of 17,971 acres. The refuge is home to a number of endangered species including the Antillean Manatee, the Brown Pelican and four species of sea turtles (Green, Loggerhead, Hawksbill and the Leatherback).
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Virgin Islands
Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge
The Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1969 on 45 acres near the southern coast of St. Thomas Island. This refuge in the U.S. Caribbean is an important nesting place for several migrating birds between North and South America including the sooty Tern, Whitetail thornbirds and laughing gulls.
Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge
The Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1977 on 14 acres just off the northern coast of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The primary objectives of the refuge is protecting the endangered St. Croix ground lizard and colonial nesting birds.
Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge
The Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1984 on 327 acres at the southwestern end of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Possessing the longest beach in the Virgin Islands, the refuge supports the largest nesting population of leatherback sea turtles (largest sea turtle in the world) under United States jurisdiction.
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South Carolina
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge
The Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1932 on 66,267 acres in northeast Charleston County, South Carolina. The refuge has an impressive population of waterfowl, shore birds, wading birds an raptors as well as the largest nesting rookery for brown pelicans, terns and gulls found on the South Carolina coast.
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 on 45,348 acres in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The refuge provides habitat for nearly 200 species of birds, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, the southern bald eagle, and a large variety of migratory waterfowl.
Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge
The Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 on 11,815 acres made up of two different units in Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, and Hampton counties in South Carolina. The refuge is home to bald eagles, endangered wood storks, and wintering groups of up to 30,000 ducks.
Santee National Wildlife Refuge
The Santee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1942 on 15,095 acres in Clarendon County, South Carolina. Endangered and threatened species on the refuge include the red-cockaded woodpecker, the bald eagle and the American alligator.
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1927 and encompasses over 29,000 acres in Chatham and Effingham Counties, Georgia and Jasper County, South Carolina. The refuge provides a safe habitat for a large variety of wildlife including: ducks, geese, wading birds, shorebirds, American alligators, and several endangered and/or threatened species including bald eagles, wood storks, manatees and shortnose sturgeon.
Tybee National Wildlife Refuge
The Tybee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1938 on 100 acres in Jasper County, South Carolina. In addition to being an important resting and feeding area for migratory birds including gulls, terns, neotropical migratory songbirds, and shorebirds, the refuge is also home for several endangered species including piping plovers and wood storks.
Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge
The Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1997 on 9,506 acres in Georgetown, Horry and Marion counties in South Carolina. Over 400 species of animals are supported by the variety of habitats on the refuge, including 4 endangered species, most notably notable, the refuge boasts the highest population of nesting swallow-tailed kites in South Carolina.
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Tennessee
Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge
The Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1985 on 25,006 acres in the Lower Mississippi River floodplain along the Chickasaw Bluff in western Tennessee. In ideal conditions, peak waterfowl numbers in the refuge can exceed 250,000 including black ducks, gadwall, pintail, teal, wigeon, wood duck, ring-necked duck, and hooded merganser.
Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge
The Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 on 8,862 acres in Stewart County, Tennessee. In addition to nesting bald eagles, the refuge has substantial numbers of geese, ducks, raptors, shorebirds, wading birds, and neo-tropical migratory birds.
Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge
The Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge was formed in 1964 and encompasses 11,556 acres in Haywood County, Tennessee. Currently experiencing drastic erosion and timber losses, the refuge is home to concentrations of mallards, shorebirds and wading birds. It also provides nesting habitat for wood ducks and hooded merganzers.
Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuge
The Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuge, formed in 1938 on 1,850 acres in extreme northwest Tennessee, is the oldest refuge in the state of Tennessee. Due to it's closeness to the Mississippi River, the refuge has always been an important stopover point and wintering area for waterfowl of the Mississippi Flyway. Wintertime populations of mallards have been known to be as high as 100,00 as well as 30,000 Canada geese and a large variety of other waterfowl and several bald eagles.
Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge
The Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of 9,451 acres in west Tennessee, north of Memphis between Covington and Ripley. The refuge helps protect and enhance the ever diminishing bottomland hardwood forests, along with other important habitats within the Hatchie River watershed.
Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge
The Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1941 and currently consists of 10,428 acres on the upper portion of historic Reelfoot Lake in the extreme northwest corner of Tennessee and southwest Kentucky. The Reelfoot Lake area is famous for its wintering population of 100-200 bald eagles.
Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge
The Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1945 and is made up of a total of 51,358 acres along 65 miles of the Tennessee River. The variety of habitats on the refuge support over 300 species of birds, 51 mammal species, 89 reptiles and amphibians and 144 species of fish. In especially cold winters, the cold weather population has been estimated at 250,000 ducks, 19,000 geese.
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