National Wildlife Refuges

Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge
419-898-0014

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
419-898-0014

West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge
419-898-0014

Other Programs

Federal Aid
Migratory Bird Conservation
North American Waterfowl Management Plan
Private Lands Office
Realty

Other Information

Travel Information
Midwest Natural Resources Group (MNRG)

State Facts

• The Service employs 24 people in Ohio

• The Fiscal Year 2006 Resource Management budget for Service activities in Ohio totaled $2.7 million

National Wildlife Refuge Facts

• Three National Wildlife Refuges in Ohio total 9,081 acres

• In 2004, more than 268,000 people visited national wildlife refuges in Ohio to hunt, fish, participate in interpretive programs and view wildlife

Federal Assistance to State Fish and Wildlife Programs

In 2006 Ohio received:

• $8.4 million for sport fish restoration

• $6.2 million for wildlife restoration and hunter education

Wildlife Restoration Act funds have goals through significant land acquisitions. One of these acquisitions is the Tri-Valley Wildlife Area, located in Muskingum County. This 16,200-acre reclaimed strip mine was purchased for $4.5 million and will provide increased recreational activities for the public and additional habitat for wildlife.

Ecological Services

Ohio Ecological Services Office
614-469-6923

Law Enforcement

Delaware Law Enforcement Office
614-368-0137

Sandusky Law Enforcement Office
419-625-9713

Threatened Snake Returns to Lake Erie Island

Researchers and biologists in 2002 confirmed that the Lake Erie water snake, a threatened species, has returned to Green Island—the first confirmed sighting in more than 20 years. Managed by the Ohio Division of Wildlife as a wildlife refuge, 17-acre Green Island is one of the limestone islands in western Lake Erie on which water snakes were found in the 1930s and 1940s. Surveys in the 1980s and 1990s found no water snakes, but on a visit to the island this July, researchers from Northern Illinois University and Fish and Wildlife Service employees captured 10 Lake Erie water snakes and implanted them with tracking tags. They also observed nine more snakes that were not captured.

Ottawa NWR Draws Birds, Visitors, Dollars to Ohio

More than 260,000 visitors flocked to Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in 2004, many of them to see the songbirds, waterfowl and other bird species that use the refuge and the adjacent state-owned Magee Marsh as stopovers during their long migrations. Visitors to the refuge and the marsh, who pump some $5.6 million into the local economy each year, are rewarded with miles of hiking trails, many of them disabled accessible, and the opportunity to observe and photograph birds on a refuge that was recently named as a “birding hotspot” by Birder’s World magazine. Construction on a new visitors center/office will be completed in 2007.