Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 114,657-acre, federally protected area at San Antonio Bay on the coast of Texas. The refuge was established by Executive Order 7784 on December 31, 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Aransas Migratory… read more
The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was created by Congress in 1928 to protect waterfowl on the flyway through the Great Salt Lake Basin. It covers 80,000 acres of marshes, sloughs and uplands at the delta of the Bear River,… read more
In 1936 the Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS) determined that Bosque del Apache site was suitable for a migratory bird refuge. Condemnation of the land was initiated through the 1931 Migratory Bird Conservation Act and concluded in December 1936. The… read more
Camas National Wildlife Refuge lies in southeast Idaho along the Camas River and just west of the Grand Tetons of Wyoming. Its 10,000 acres are half lakes, ponds, and marshlands and half grass sagebrush uplands, meadows, and farms. It is… read more
The Omaha World-Herald announced in the June 13, 1933 edition that Nebraska’s sixth Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp was approved in Washington D.C. and that it would be located near Valentine. Officials arrived in September to make arrangements for the… read more
Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1931 under the Hoover Administration, but was not improved until President Franklin Roosevelt came into office in 1933. The refuge lies on the southwestern edge of the Sand Hills of Nebraska and… read more
Fort Niobrara NWR – Valentine NE Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refuge was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 by Executive Order. The principal aim was to protect bison and elk herds which had dwindled almost to extinction under the pressure… read more
Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1939 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which wikipedia incorrectly calls an act of Congress in 1938). The land was purchased and administered by the Bureau of Biological Survey (which… read more
Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1932 under President Herbert Hoover. Like many other extant refuges, it was improved during the New Deal by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) working under the Bureau of Biological Survey (which became… read more
Mattamuskeet Migratory Bird (later Wildlife) Refuge was established in 1934, primarily as a refuge for migratory birds along the Atlantic flyway. It was one of the first refuges created under President Franklin Roosevelt, an ardent bird fancier and conservationist, and… read more
Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in northeastern Montana between the Missouri River and the Canadian border. Medicine Lake NWR encompasses 31,702 acres and consists of the 28,438-acre north tract, which includes Medicine Lake, and seventeen smaller water units…. read more
In 1937 the Bureau of Biological Survey (from 1940, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) purchased 6,432 acres of the former Montezuma Marsh at the northern end of Cayuga Lake (one of the finger lakes of upstate New York). In… read more
President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Muleshoe Migratory Waterfowl Refuge by executive order on October 24, 1935. In 1940 the name was changed to the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge. The original tract purchased for the refuge was 738 acres. The… read more
President Franklin Roosevelt created Patuxent Research Refuge (PRR) with Executive Order 7514, December 16, 1936, and Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace dedicated it on June 3, 1939. The refuge began with 2,670 acres and has since grown to 12,841 acres…. read more
The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1938 by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the protection of migratory birds and endemic species of the Basin and Range region. It serves over 220 species of waterfowl… read more
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. With funds from Emergency Conservation Fund Act of 1933, the Bureau of Biological Survey purchased the 10,775-acre Spalding Ranch to create what was originally called… read more
Seney National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the protection of migratory birds and other wildlife. It began under the Bureau of Biological Survey, which morphed into the US Fish & Wildlife Service in… read more
The Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 in the desert landscape of northern Nevada and eastern Oregon and enlarged by order of President Franklin Roosevelt in December 1936, under the auspices of the Bureau of Biological Survey (Fish… read more
What is today the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge was originally established in 1931 as the St. Marks Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, a key link in protecting the Atlantic flyway. It cover over 70,000 acres spread out between Wakulla, Jefferson, and Taylor counties… read more
Valentine Migratory Waterfowl Refuge was established in 1935 by an Executive Order of President Franklin Roosevelt. Some 70,000 acres of land in the Sand Hills of Cherry County, Nebraska were purchased by the Bureau of Biological Survey “as a breeding… read more
The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR) covers 35,000 acres along the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama. The Wheeler Migratory Bird Refuge was established by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 to provide habitat for wintering and migrating birds… read more
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge began in 1901 when part of the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache Indian Reservation was set aside as a National Forest. The area was transferred in 1935 to the Bureau of Biological Survey to become a wildlife refuge under the… read more