• Established:  1962
• Acres:  2,824 (157 man-made freshwater ponds; 705 open fields; 663 pine/oak forests; two acres of forested wetland; and 1,297 salt marsh).
• Location:  McIntosh County, GA, 5 miles north of Eulonia, GA, then seven miles east on Harris Neck Road.  From I-95, take exit 67 and travel south on U.S. 17 for approximately one mile, then east on Harris Neck Road for seven miles to the main entrance gate on your left.
• Land grant ownership to Scottish settlers in 1750.
• Settled by freed slaves after the Civil War.
• Lands condemned; used as World War II Army air training base.
• Ownership given to McIntosh County after World War II.
• County ownership revoked, established as a national wildlife refuge.
• Notable concentrations of waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds, raptors, deer, turkey, quail and alligators.

Financial Impact of the Refuge

• Over 48,000 visitors annually
• Harris Neck NWR is part of a seven-refuge complex that has an annual budget of $3,434,000 (FY 2006) and a combined staff of 29, four of which are assigned to this refuge.

Refuge Objectives

• Provide habitat and protection for migratory birds.
• Provide protection and habitat to promote resident and migratory wildlife diversity.
• Provide protection and management for endangered and threatened pland and animal species (American bald eagle, American alligator and wood stork).
• Provide protection and management necessary to sustain and promote colonial nesting bird populations that use the refuge.
• Provide wildlife education and interpretation and recreational opportunities to the visiting public.

Management Tools

• Water level management for waterfowl, shorebirds, wood storks and wading birds.
• Mowing and discing.
• Prescribed fire.
• Mechanical and chemical control of noxious plants.
• Timber cutting.
• Public hunting for deer population management.
• Education/interpretation
• Law enforcement
• Partnerships

Public Use Opportunities

• Hiking/biking trails
• Auto tour route
• Wildlife observation and photography
• Hunting
• Fishing/shrimping/crabbing
• Environmental education and interpretation