The National Wildlife Refuges Of The United States

By
Mountain Journey
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The US Fish & Wildlife Service manages the 150-million acre National Wildlife Refuge System. The goal of this vast system of public lands and waters is to “administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of the present and future generations of Americans.”

National Wildlife Refuge System Logo | By Jay Norwood Darling [Public domain], <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NWRS_Logo.png">via Wikimedia Commons</a>
National Wildlife Refuge System Logo | By Jay Norwood Darling [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The National Wildlife Refuge System began in 1903 when President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida’s Pelican Island NWR as the first wildlife refuge.

Since then, the National Wildlife Refuge System has grown rapidly. Today the National Wildlife Refuge System is responsible for managing roughly 150 million acres of land and water from the Caribbean to the remote Pacific.

Mountains, wetlands, prairies, marine areas, forests, arctic, alpine, grasslands, and other landscapes are protected within the NWRS. These special places “provide habitat for more than 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 reptile and amphibian species and more than 1,000 species of fish. More than 380 threatened or endangered plants or animals are protected on wildlife refuges” (FWS.gov).

Nearly 50 million people visit the National Wildlife Refuge System every year. According to RefugeAssociation.org, the NWRS generates “$2.4 billion for local economies and create nearly 35,000 U.S. jobs annually.”

The National Wildlife Refuge System is an ideal places for outdoor recreation like “wildlife-watching, hunting, fishing, photography, hiking, canoeing, kayaking and environmental education.”  Maybe it’s time for you to add these incredible destinations to your bucket list.

According to the USFW Annual Report Of Lands Data, as of September 2017, there are 566 National Wildlife Refuges that consist of 146,432,080.08 total acres. In total the National Wildlife Refuge System manages 855,585,128.79 total acres. That includes Wildlife Refuges, Monument Areas, Waterfowl Production Areas, Coordination Areas, Fish Hatcheries, and administration sites. The list below is based on that annual report.

For full statistics on the National Wildlife Refuge System, please consult that report. The best map of the National Wildlife Refuge System can be found here.

Below you can explore the National Wildlife Refuge System listed by state based on information from FWS.gov:

Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska | Pixabay Image
Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska | Pixabay Image

Alabama – 11 Units – 71,573.13 acres

  1. Bon Secour
  2. Cahaba River
  3. Choctaw
  4. Eufaula
  5. Fern Cave
  6. Grand Bay
  7. Key Cave
  8. Mountain Longleaf
  9. Sauta Cave
  10. Watercress Darter
  11. Wheeler

Alaska – 16 Units – 76,797,990.87 acres

  1. Alaska Maritime
  2. Alaska Peninsula
  3. Arctic
  4. Becharof
  5. Innoko
  6. Isembek
  7. Kanuti
  8. Kenai
  9. Kodiak
  10. Koyukuk
  11. Nowitna
  12. Selawik
  13. Tetlin
  14. Togiak
  15. Yukon Delta
  16. Yukon Flats

American Samoa – 1 Unit – 1,613.00 acres

  1. Rose Atoll

Arizona – 9 Units – 1,736,885.77 acres

  1. Bill Williams River
  2. Buenos Aires
  3. Cabeza Prieta
  4. Cibola
  5. Havasu
  6. Imperial
  7. Kofa
  8. Leslie Canyon
  9. San Bernardino

Arkansas – 10 Units – 381,658.21 acres

  1. Bald Knob
  2. Big Lake
  3. Cache River
  4. Felsenthal
  5. Holla Bend
  6. Logan Cave
  7. Overflow
  8. Pond Creek
  9. Wapanocca
  10. White River

California – 39 Units – 501,661.15 acres

  1. Antioch Dunes
  2. Bitter Creek
  3. Blue Ridge
  4. Butte Sink
  5. Castle Rock
  6. Clear Lake
  7. Coachella Valley
  8. Colusa
  9. Delevan
  10. Don Edwards San Francisco Bay
  11. Ellicott Slough
  12. Farallon
  13. Grasslands
  14. Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes
  15. Hopper Mountain
  16. Humboldt Bay
  17. Kern
  18. Kesterton
  19. Lower Klamath
  20. Marin Islands
  21. Merced
  22. Modoc
  23. North Central Valley
  24. Pixley
  25. Sacramento
  26. Sacramento River
  27. Salinas River
  28. San Diego
  29. San Diego Bay
  30. San Joaquin River
  31. San Luis
  32. San Pablo Bay
  33. Seal Beach
  34. Sonny Bono Salton Sea
  35. Stone Lakes
  36. Sutter
  37. Tijuana Slough
  38. Tule Lake
  39. Willow Creek-Lurline

Colorado – 10 Units – 340,513.78 acres

  1. Alamosa
  2. Arapahoe
  3. Baca
  4. Browns Park
  5. Colorado River
  6. Monte Vista
  7. Rocky Flats
  8. Rocky Mountain Arsenal
  9. Sangre de Cristo
  10. Two Ponds

Connecticut – 2 Units – 1697.49 acres

  1. Silvio O. Conte
  2. Stewart B. McKenney

Delaware – 2 Units – 26,496.18 acres

  1. Bombay Hook
  2. Prime Hook

Florida – 30 Units – 990,238.13 acres

  1. Archie Carr
  2. Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee
  3. Caloosahatchee
  4. Cedar Keys
  5. Chassahowitzka
  6. Crocodile Lake
  7. Crystal River
  8. Egmont Key
  9. Everglades Headwaters
  10. Florida Panther
  11. Great White Heron
  12. Hobe Sound
  13. Island Bay
  14. J.N. “Ding” Darling
  15. Key Deer
  16. Key West
  17. Lake Wales Ridge
  18. Lake Woodruff
  19. Lower Suwannee
  20. Matlacha Pass
  21. Merritt Island
  22. Okefenokee
  23. Passage Key
  24. Pelican Island
  25. Pine Island
  26. Pinellas
  27. St. Johns
  28. St. Marks
  29. St. Vincent
  30. Ten Thousand Islands

Georgia – 8 Units – 496,736.91 acres

  1. Banks Lake
  2. Blackbeard Island
  3. Bond Swamp
  4. Harris Neck
  5. Okenfenokee
  6. Piedmont
  7. Wassaw
  8. Wolf Island

Guam – 1 Unit – 23,228.10 acres

  1. Guam

Hawaii – 10 Units – 304,733.60 acres

  1. Hakalau Forest
  2. Hanalei
  3. Hawaiian Islands
  4. Hule’ia
  5. James Campbell
  6. Kakahaia
  7. Kealia Pond
  8. Kilauea Point
  9. Oahu Forest
  10. Pearl Harbor

Idaho – 6 Units – 85,280.92 acres

  1. Bear Lake
  2. Camas
  3. Deer Flat
  4. Grays Lake
  5. Kootenai
  6. Minidoka

Illinois – 12 Units – 131,085.65 acres

  1. Chautauqua
  2. Crab Orchard
  3. Cypress Creek
  4. Emiquon
  5. Great River
  6. Hackmatack
  7. Kankakee
  8. Meredosia
  9. Middle Mississippi River
  10. Port Louisa
  11. Two Rivers
  12. Upper Mississippi

Indiana – 3 Units – 69,011.09 acres

  1. Big Oaks
  2. Muscatatuck
  3. Patoka River

Iowa – 5 Units – 88,370.88 acres

  1. DeSoto
  2. Driftless Area
  3. Neal Smith
  4. Northern Tallgrass Prairie
  5. Union Slough

Kansas – 5 Units – 67,795.67 acres

  1. Flint Hills
  2. Flint Hills Legacy
  3. Kirwin
  4. Marais des Cygnes
  5. Quivira

Kentucky – 3 Units – 11,837.75 acres

  1. Clarks River
  2. Ohio River Islands
  3. Reelfoot

Louisiana – 23 Units – 599,113.75 acres

  1. Atchafalaya
  2. Bayou Cocodrie
  3. Bayou Sauvage
  4. Bayou Teche
  5. Big Branch Marsh
  6. Black Boyou Lake
  7. Bogue Chitto
  8. Breton
  9. Cameron Prairie
  10. Cat Island
  11. Catahoula
  12. D’Arbonne
  13. Delta
  14. Grand Cote
  15. Handy Brake
  16. Lacassine
  17. Lake Ophelia
  18. Mandalay
  19. Red River
  20. Sabine
  21. Shell Keys
  22. Tensas River
  23. Upper Ouachita

Maine – 10 Units – 72,948.17 acres

  1. Aroostook
  2. Cross Island
  3. Franklin Island
  4. Moosehorn
  5. Petit Manan
  6. Pond Island
  7. Rachel Carson
  8. Seal Island
  9. Sunkhaze Meadows
  10. Umbagog

Maryland – 6 Units – 49,786.16 acres

  1. Blackwater
  2. Chincoteague
  3. Eastern Neck
  4. Glenn Martin
  5. Patuxent
  6. Susquehanna River

Massachusetts – 10 Units – 23,387.72 acres

  1. Assabet River
  2. Great Meadows
  3. Mashpee
  4. Massasoit
  5. Monomoy
  6. Nantucket
  7. Nomans Land Island
  8. Oxbow
  9. Parker River
  10. Thacher Island

Michigan – 8 Units – 126,050.38 acres

  1. Detroit River International
  2. Green Bay
  3. Harbor Island
  4. Huron
  5. Kirtlands Warbler
  6. Michigan Islands
  7. Seney
  8. Shiawassee

Minnesota – 11 Units – 246,975.61 acres

  1. Agassiz
  2. Big Stone
  3. Crane Meadows
  4. Glacial Ridge
  5. Hamden Slough
  6. Mille Lacs
  7. Minnesota Valley
  8. Northern Tallgrass Prairie
  9. Rice Lake
  10. Rydell
  11. Sherburne
  12. Tamarac

Mississippi – 13 Units – 228,848.68 acres

  1. Coldwater River
  2. Dahomey
  3. Hillside
  4. Holt Collier
  5. Mathews Brake
  6. Mississippi Sandhill Crane
  7. Morgan Brake
  8. Panther Swamp
  9. Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee
  10. St. Catherine Creek
  11. Tallahatchie
  12. Theodore Roosevelt
  13. Yazoo

Missouri – 7 Units – 72,953.66 acres

  1. Big Muddy National
  2. Clarence Cannon
  3. Loess Bluffs
  4. Mingo
  5. Ozark Cavefish
  6. Pilot Knob
  7. Swan Lake

Montana – 24 Units – 1,334,910,28 acres

  1. Benton Lake
  2. Black Coulee
  3. Blackfoot Valley
  4. Bowdoin
  5. Charles M. Russell
  6. Creedman Coulee
  7. Grass Lake
  8. Hailstone
  9. Hewitt Lake
  10. Lake Mason
  11. Lake Thibadeau
  12. Lamesteer
  13. Lee Metcalf
  14. Lost Trail
  15. Medicine Lake
  16. National Bison Range
  17. Ninepipe
  18. Pablo
  19. Red Rock Lakes
  20. Rocky Mountain Front
  21. Swan River
  22. Swan Valley
  23. UL Bend
  24. War Horse

Nebraska – 7 Units – 155,392.72 acres

  1. Boyer Chute
  2. Crescent Lake
  3. Desoto
  4. Fort Niobrara
  5. John W. And Louise Seier
  6. North Platte
  7. Valentine

Nevada – 9 Units – 2,363,021.19 acres

  1. Anaho Island
  2. Ash Meadows
  3. Desert
  4. Fallon
  5. Moapa Valley
  6. Pahranagat
  7. Ruby Lake
  8. Sheldon
  9. Stillwater

New Hampshire – 3 Units – 36,156.19 acres

  1. Great Bay
  2. John Hay
  3. Wapack

New Jersey – 5 Units – 76,408.89 acres

  1. Cape May
  2. Edwin B. Forsythe
  3. Great Swamp National
  4. Supawna Meadows
  5. Wallkill River

New Mexico – 9 Units – 389,224.05 acres

  1. Bitter Lake
  2. Bosque del Apache
  3. Grulla
  4. Las Vegas
  5. Maxwell
  6. Rio Mora
  7. San Andres
  8. Sevilleta
  9. Valle De Oro

New York – 11 Units – 31,211.75 acres

  1. Amagansett
  2. Conscience Point
  3. Elizabeth A. Morton
  4. Great Thicket
  5. Iroquois
  6. Montezuma
  7. Oyster Bay
  8. Seatuck
  9. Shawangunk Grasslands
  10. Target Rock
  11. Wertheim

North Carolina – 12 Units – 435,422.08 acres

  1. Alligator River
  2. Cedar Island
  3. Currituck
  4. Great Dismal Swamp
  5. Mackay Island
  6. Mattamuskeet
  7. Mountain Bogs
  8. Pea Island
  9. Pee Dee
  10. Pocosin Lakes
  11. Roanoke River
  12. Swanquarter

North Dakota – 66 Units – 416,214.59 acres

  1. Appert Lake
  2. Ardoch
  3. Arrowwood
  4. Audubon
  5. Bone Hill
  6. Brumba
  7. Buffalo Lake
  8. Camp Lake
  9. Canfield Lake
  10. Chase Lake
  11. Cottonwood Lake
  12. Dakota Grassland
  13. Dakota Lake
  14. Dakota Tallgrass Prairie
  15. Des Lacs
  16. Florence Lake
  17. Half-Way Lake
  18. Hiddenwood
  19. Hobart Lake
  20. Hutchinson Lake
  21. J. Clark Salyer
  22. Johnson Lake
  23. Kellys Slough
  24. Lake Alice
  25. Lake George
  26. Lake Ilo
  27. Lake Nettie
  28. Lake Otis
  29. Lake Patricia
  30. Lake Zahl
  31. Lambs Lake
  32. Little Goose
  33. Long Lake
  34. Lords Lake
  35. Lost Lake
  36. Lostwood
  37. Maple River
  38. McLean
  39. North Dakota
  40. Pleasant Lake
  41. Pretty Rock
  42. Rabb Lake
  43. Rock Lake
  44. Rose Lake
  45. School Section Lake
  46. Shell Lake
  47. Sheyenne Lake
  48. Sibley Lake
  49. Silver Lake
  50. Slade
  51. Snyder Lake
  52. Springwater
  53. Stewart Lake
  54. Stoney Slough
  55. Storm Lake
  56. Stump Lake
  57. Sullys Hill National Game Preserve
  58. Sunburst Lake
  59. Tewaukon
  60. Tomahawk
  61. Upper Souris
  62. White Lake
  63. Wild Rice Lake
  64. Willow Lake
  65. Wintering River
  66. Wood Lake

Ohio – 3 Units – 9,408.27 acres

  1. Cedar Point
  2. Ottawa
  3. West Sister Island

Oklahoma – 9 Units – 173,465.51 acres

  1. Deep Fork
  2. Little River
  3. Optima
  4. Ozark Plateau
  5. Salt Plains
  6. Sequoyah
  7. Tishomingo
  8. Washita
  9. Wichita Mountains

Oregon – 21 Units – 583,313.61 acres

  1. Ankeny
  2. Bandon Marsh
  3. Baskett Slough
  4. Bear Valley
  5. Cape Meares
  6. Cold Springs
  7. Hart Mountain
  8. Julia Butler Hansen
  9. Klamath Marsh
  10. Lewis and Clark
  11. Malheur
  12. McKay Creek
  13. Nestucca Bay
  14. Oregon Islands
  15. Siletz Bay
  16. Three Arch Rocks
  17. Tualatin River
  18. Umatilla
  19. Upper Klamath
  20. Wapato Lake
  21. William L. Finley

Pennsylvania – 3 Units – 12,027.96 acres

  1. Cherry Valley
  2. Erie
  3. John Heinz

Puerto Rico – 5 Units – 22,584.46 acres

  1. Cabo Rojo
  2. Culebra
  3. Desecheo
  4. Laguna Cartagena
  5. Vieques

Rhode Island – 5 Units – 2,570.74 acres

  1. Block Island
  2. John H. Chafee
  3. Ninigret
  4. Sachuest Point
  5. Trustom Pond

South Carolina – 7 Units – 192,438.74 acres

  1. Cape Romain
  2. Carolina Sandhills
  3. Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin
  4. Pinckney Island
  5. Santee
  6. Tybee
  7. Waccamaw

South Dakota – 5 Units – 125,042.27 acres

  1. Bear Butte
  2. Lacreek
  3. Lake Andes
  4. Sand Lake
  5. Waubay

Tennessee – 6 Units – 123,210.66 acres

  1. Chickasaw
  2. Cross Creeks
  3. Hatchie
  4. Lake Isom
  5. Lower Hatcie
  6. Tennessee

Texas – 20 Units – 641,682.73

  1. Anahuac
  2. Aransas
  3. Attwater Prairie Chicken
  4. Balcones Canyonlands
  5. Big Boggy
  6. Brazoria
  7. Buffalo Lake
  8. Caddo Lake
  9. Hagerman
  10. Laguna Atascosa
  11. Little Sandy
  12. Lower Rio Grande Valley
  13. McFaddin
  14. Moody
  15. Muleshoe
  16. Neches River
  17. San Bernard
  18. Santa Ana
  19. Texas Point
  20. Trinity River

Utah – 4 Units – 105,846.59 acres

  1. Bear River
  2. Bear River Watershed
  3. Fish Springs
  4. Ouray

US Minor Outlying Islands – Atlantic Islands – 1 Unit – 364,950.00 acres

  1. Narvassa Island

US Minor Outlying Islands – Pacific Islands – 10 Units 54,515,260.67 acres

  1. Baker Island
  2. Howland Island
  3. Jarvis Island
  4. Johnston Atoll
  5. Kingman Reef
  6. Mariana Arc Of Fire
  7. Mariana Trench Marine National Monument
  8. Midway Atoll
  9. Palmyra Atoll
  10. Wake Atoll

Vermont – 1 Unit – 34,187.27 acres

  1. Missisquoi

Virgin Islands – 3 Units – 590.15 acres

  1. Buck Island
  2. Green Cay
  3. Sandy Point

Virginia – 12 Units – 135,141.67 acres

  1. Back Bay
  2. Eastern Shore Of Virginia
  3. Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck
  4. Featherstone
  5. Fisherman Island
  6. James River
  7. Nansemond
  8. Occoquan Bay
  9. Plum Tree Island
  10. Presquile
  11. Rappahannock River Valley
  12. Wallops Island

Washington – 20 Units – 328,517.90 acres

  1. Columbia
  2. Conboy Lake
  3. Copalis
  4. Dungeness
  5. Flattery Rocks
  6. Franz Lake
  7. Grays Harbor
  8. Little Pend Oreille
  9. McNary
  10. Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually
  11. Pierce
  12. Protection Island
  13. Quillayute Needles
  14. Ridgefield
  15. Saddle Mountain
  16. San Juan Islands
  17. Steigerwald Lake
  18. Toppenish
  19. Turnbull
  20. Willapa

West Virginia – 1 Unit – 19,286.35 acres

  1. Canaan Valley

Wisconsin – 6 Units – 169,689.17 acre

  1. Fox River
  2. Gravel Island
  3. Horicon
  4. Necedah
  5. Trempealeau
  6. Whittlesey Creek

Wyoming – 7 Units – 86,431.21 acres

  1. Bamforth
  2. Cokeville Meadows
  3. Hutton Lake
  4. Mortenson Lake
  5. National Elk
  6. Pathfinder
  7. Seedskadee

The list of National Wildlife Refuges featured in this post is based on lists from Fish & Wildlife Service’s Annual Report Of Lands Data Table.  Please visit FWS.gov for more information on the NWRS.

Did you know that the NWRS system is home to 20.6 million acres of designated wilderness? Here’s a fun video about wilderness within the National Wildlife Refuges:

Learn more about wilderness in the NWRS here.

See Also: