National Wildlife Refuge Week

October 11, 2009- October 17, 2009

Nationwide

National Wildlife Refuge Week features scores of festivals and special events that help connect people with nature at the country’s 547 National Wildlife Refuges.

Established in 1903 when President Theodore Roosevelt designated the three-acre Pelican Island in Florida as the nation’s first wildlife refuge, the National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today encompasses 547 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 3,000 waterfowl production areas spanning nearly 100 million acres.

With national wildlife refuges in every state and within an hour's drive of most major metropolitan areas, nearly all of us can find unsurpassed opportunities to hunt, fish, photograph and watch wildlife, and participate in interpretive programs during Refuge Week and throughout the year.

To find the national wildlife refuge nearest you, visit refuges.fws.gov or call 1-800-344-WILD (9453).

Defenders of Wildlife is working to protect and strengthen the National Wildlife Refuge System, the only system of federal public lands in the United States dedicated to wildlife conservation.
Learn more about Wildlife Refuges >>