Special Management Areas

More than 170 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System have special management areas of one type or another – Cultural Resource or Historic Sites, Research Natural Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Natural Landmarks. These designations are made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Wilderness areas, however, must be designated by Congress.

International organizations also single out portions of refuges for special management, including the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserves, National Marine Sanctuaries, National Estuary Research Reserves, Biosphere Reserves and Wetlands of International Importance.

Camping in Brooks Range Valley near the Sheenjek River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AK

Credit: David Cline

Wilderness

The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation System and a process for federal agencies to recommend wilderness areas to Congress. There are more than 20 million acres of designated wilderness in the National Wildlife Refuge System – about one-fifth of all the designated wilderness areas in the United States. There are 75 wilderness areas on 63 units of the Refuge System in 26 states.  About 90 percent of the Refuge System wilderness is in Alaska.

Wilderness areas in National Wildlife Refuges (PDF 33K)

Wilderness, as defined by the Wilderness Act, is untrammeled (free from man's control), undeveloped, and natural, offering outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation.

Wilderness visitors may hunt, fish, and observe and photograph wildlife, if these activities are compatible with the refuge’s primary mission of wildlife conservation. Many other types of compatible recreational uses, such as cross-country skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and hiking may also be enjoyed in some wilderness areas.

Wilderness Fellowship Program
Through the Wilderness Character Monitoring program, begun in 2011, Wilderness Fellows conduct wilderness character assessments on refuges to evaluate the impacts of nearby development, climate changes, management actions and other factors on wilderness character to better ensure the preservation of the these wild areas for future generations.

Wilderness Fellows gain valuable career experience while helping advance stewardship of wilderness resources. Natural processes predominate in wilderness areas, making them an important part of a national strategy for monitoring long-term ecological change.

Fellows spend six months in a wilderness refuge, taking training courses, developing an inventory and monitoring strategy, and producing baseline data about wilderness characteristics.

Meet the first Wilderness Fellows.

Did You Know?

• Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, NJ, was the first refuge to receive wilderness designation — 3,660 acres in the 1968.
• The smallest wilderness area in the Refuge System is the two-acre Wisconsin Islands Wilderness, Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge, WI.
• The largest wilderness area in the Refuge System is 8 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AK. Nearly 75 per cent of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is wilderness.
• The most recent additions to wilderness areas within the Refuge System were included in the 1994 California Desert Bill – 3,195 acres in Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, CA/AZ and 5, 836 acres in Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, CA/AZ.

Biosphere Reserves

Biosphere reserves are protected areas of representative terrestrial and coastal environments which have been internationally recognized under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program for their value in conservation and in providing the scientific knowledge, skill and human values to support sustainable development. Biosphere reserves are united to form a worldwide network which facilitates sharing of information relevant to the conservation and management of natural and managed ecosystems.

Five units of the National Wildlife Refuge System are included in Biosphere Reserves

For further information about the Man and the Biosphere Reserves visit the Biosphere Reserve Program Web pages.

Research Natural Areas

The Service administratively designates research natural areas on refuges; currently there are 210 such areas on refuges totaling 1,955,762 acres.

Research natural areas are part of a national network of reserved areas under various ownerships. Research natural areas are intended to represent the full array of North American ecosystems with their biological communities, habitats, natural phenomena, and geological and hydrological formations.

In research natural areas, as in designated wilderness, natural processes are allowed to predominate without human intervention. Under certain circumstances, deliberate manipulation may be used to maintain the unique features for which the research natural area was established.

Activities such as hiking, bird watching, hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, and photography are permissible, but not mandated, in research natural areas. Research natural areas may be closed to all public use if such use is determined to be incompatible with primary refuge purposes.

Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network links wetland and associated upland sites essential to migratory shorebirds in a voluntary, non regulatory program of research, training, and collaborative effort for habitat management, environmental education, and protection. Shorebirds migrate across the hemisphere, some from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. Their movements carry them through wetlands with immense natural value to wildlife and to humans alike. The Network uses shorebirds as symbols of the intense conservation challenge that wetlands face and of the need for international cooperation in the protection of these areas.

Twenty areas within the National Wildlife Refuge System have been designated as shorebird reserves.

Wetlands of International Importance

Adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance provides a framework for the conservation of wetlands worldwide. Marsh, fen, peatland or water - static or flowing; fresh, brackish or salt - even riparian or coastal zones adjacent to wetlands are included in and protected by the Ramsar Convention.

Seventeen areas within the National Wildlife Refuge System have been designated as units of nine Ramsar sites.