National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge system is a network of lands and waters managed to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat.

The system consists of over 500 refuges across the nation. Nearly all of them have the words "National Wildlife Refuge", "Wetland Management District", or "Wildlife Management Area" in their names; notable exceptions include:

• Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
• Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge
• National Bison Range
• National Elk Refuge
• National Key Deer Refuge
• Patuxent Research Refuge
• Sullys Hill National Game Preserve

History

Statistics (as of 2004)

Physical Features

• Acres of land under management (Stewardship Lands): = 96,013,646 National Wildlife Refuge System Fact Sheet 2004 at http://www.fws.gov/refuges/pdfs/2004_NWRSfactSheet.pdf
• Acres of land less than fee title = 3,775,246
• Acres of wetlands = 45,677,973
• Number of management units = 632 (includes 545 refuges, 37 wetland management districts, and 50 coordination areas)
• Number of Wilderness areas = 75
• Acres of Wilderness = 20,698,845
• Miles of rivers within the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System = 1,051
• Miles of refuge boundary with Mexico = 120

Management

• Acres of wetlands restored in 2004 = 89,262
• Acres burned in 2004 to reduce hazardous fuels = 45,012

Visitation

• Total visitors in 2004 = 39,847,108
• Total visits in 2004 = 72,563,393

Volunteers

• Total volunteers in 2004 = 32,933
• Total volunteer hours in 2004 = 1,339,427
• Value of volunteer hours in 2004 = $23,024,750

Real Property

• Miles of roads maintained = 11,700
• Number of buildings maintained = 5,850
• Number of employee housing units = 660
• Number of bridges = 650 (0 tunnels)
• Miles of fencing = 13,500
• Number of water control structures maintained = 9,100

Personnel

• Total Staff = 3,809 FTE’s (Full Time Equivalents, thus two half-time employees count as one FTE)
• Number of refuge enforcement officers = 491
• Number of firefighter FTE’s = 538

See also

• List of National Wildlife Refuges
• Timeline of environmental events
• Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges

External links

• Official website of the National Wildlife Refuge
• Legislation
• SSRN: The Significance of National Wildlife Refuges in the Development of U.S. Conservation Policy
• National Wildlife Refuge Association - A nonprofit entity supporting the National Wildlife Refuge system

References