U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

America‘s NationalWildlife Refuge SystemA Century of Conservation

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In 1903, President Theodore Rooseveltordered that a small shell- andmangrove-covered island in Florida’sIndian River be forever protected as a“preserve and breeding ground fornative birds.” Paul Kroegel, a local man,was hired to watch over the 3-acresanctuary named Pelican Island BirdReservation. His mission was clear:protect the island’s pelicans frompoachers and plume hunters.

With this simple promise of wildlifeprotection, the National Wildlife RefugeSystem was born. Nearly a centurylater, the refuge system has grown tonearly 94 million acres and includesmore than 530 refuges—at least one inevery state—and more than 3,000waterfowl production areas.

Here’s a look at some of the definingmoments in the history of the NationalWildlife Refuge System and the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service, whichadministers the system.

1903: On March 14, President TheodoreRoosevelt establishes Pelican IslandBird Reservation in Florida as thenation’s first bird sanctuary. During histime in office, Roosevelt would create 51bird reservations and 4 big gamepreserves in 17 states and three U.S.territories.

1905-1912: The first refuges establishedfor big game animals are Oklahoma’sWichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in1905; the National Bison Range inMontana in 1908; and Wyoming’sNational Elk Refuge in 1912.

1918: The Migratory Bird Treaty Actbetween the United States and GreatBritain (on behalf of Canada) becomesthe foundation for future legislation thatwill greatly expand the refuge system.

1924: Upper Mississippi Wild Life andFish Refuge, which runs through fourstates from Iowa to Wisconsin, is thefirst refuge established specifically forwaterfowl management.

1934: With Midwestern prairie potholesdrying up and waterfowl populations atan all-time low, President Franklin D.Roosevelt convenes a committee todetermine how to save waterfowl.Composed of conservationist AldoLeopold, cartoonist J.N. “Ding” Darlingand publisher Thomas Beck, thecommittee suggests a migratory birdstamp to raise funds for acquiringwetlands habitat. Congress soon passesthe Migratory Bird Hunting andConservation Act.

1935-1936: Biologist J. Clark Salyertravels the country buying primewetlands for the refuge system. The600,000 acres Salyer purchased becamemore than 50 national wildlife refuges,including Red Rock Lakes in Montanaestablished for trumpeter swans andMinnesota’s Agassiz NWR, forwaterfowl conservation.

1940: Rachel Carson, then an editorwith the Fish and Wildlife Service,writes a series of“Conservation in Action”booklets examiningwildlife and habitatson national wildliferefuges.

1949: AldoLeopold’s ASand CountyAlmanac ispublished theyear after hisdeath. Thisbody of workhas been called“the closest

text to a bible the conservationmovement has ever produced,” and itintroduced the concept of managingnatural resources in ecosystems.

1956: The Fish and Wildlife Actestablishes a comprehensive nationalfish and wildlife policy and broadens theService’s authority to acquire anddevelop national wildlife refuges.

1958: To support the Fish and WildlifeAct, Congress passes the Duck StampAct to authorize acquisition of small

President Theodore Roosevelt

wetland “potholes” as waterfowlproduction areas. The Service has sinceacquired more than 2 million acres ofwetland and grassland habitat in 8north-central states. The resultingwaterfowl production areas vary in sizefrom one acre in Lake County, Montana,to 20,840 acres in Edmunds County,South Dakota.

1962: The Refuge Recreation Actpermits recreational activities onrefuges where they do not conflict withrefuges’ primary wildlife purpose andwhen there is funding to managerecreational activities.

This same year, Rachel Carson’s SilentSpring awakens the world to the dangersof the pesticide DDT on migratory birdsand creates a new awareness of humanimpacts on nature and wild places.

1964: Several legislative actions benefitthe National Wildlife Refuge System:

■ The Land and Water ConservationAct authorizes appropriations ofLand and Water Conservation Fundsderived from off-shore oil leases toacquire wildlife habitat.

■ The Wilderness Act establishesguidelines for designating wildernessareas to protect unspoiled habitatwithin national parks, wildlife refugesand other public lands. Some 20million refuge acres are designatedwilderness areas.

■ The National Wildlife Refuge SystemAdministration Act creates thestandard that secondary uses must bemust be consistent with the majorpurposes for which refuges areestablished.

1966: The National Wildlife RefugeSystem Act includes measures topreserve ecosystems for endangeredspecies, perpetuate migratory birdspecies, preserve natural diversity andcreate public appreciation for wildlifeprotection.

1967: The Endangered SpeciesPreservation Act is passed, allowinglisting of native animal species asendangered and providing means—though limited—to protect listed species.Land acquisition for protection ofendangered species was also authorized.

1971: The Alaska Native ClaimsSettlement Act, an outgrowth of theAlaska Statehood Act, is a law of greatimportance to the National WildlifeRefuge System. Among other provisions,ANCSA authorized the addition of manyacres of highly productive,internationally significant wildlife landsto the system.

1973: The Endangered Species Act ispassed, considerably strengtheningprevious provisions and redirectingmanagement emphasis on some nationalwildlife refuges to focus on recoveringspecies. More than 25 refuges have beenadded to the refuge system under theact’s authority, including AttwaterPrairie Chicken NWR in Texas,Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR inMississippi and Washington State’sColumbian White-tailed Deer NWR.1980: The Alaska National InterestLands Conservation Act adds some 54million acres to the refuge system inthat state—expanding seven existingrefuges and adding nine new ones, andnearly tripling the acreage of theNational Wildlife Refuge System.

1994: The nation’s 500th national wildliferefuge is established at Canaan Valley,West Virginia.

1997: The National Wildlife RefugeSystem Improvement Act provides thefirst comprehensive organic legislationfor the refuge system. The actestablishes fish, wildlife and plantconservation as the mission of thesystem. Management priority is givento certain recreational activities thatencompass wildlife—hunting, fishing,wildlife observation and photography,and environmental education andinterpretation—when they arecompatible with the refuge’s purposesand the system’s mission.

2000: The National Wildlife RefugeSystem Centennial Act of 2000 names2003 as “Year of the Wildlife Refuge,”charges the Secretary of the Interiorwith recruiting a commission ofdistinguished citizens to rally publicsupport, and requires the Department ofthe Interior to develop new benchmarksfor Congress to evaluate progress on thesystem’s maintenance, operations andconstruction backlog.

2003: Happy 100th birthday NationalWildlife Refuge System!

Rachel Carson, author of SilentSpring.

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceNational Wildlife Refuge System1849 C Street, NWWashington, DC 20240

http://www.refuges.fws.gov