Special Management Areas

In addition to refuge status, the "special" status of lands within individual refuges may be recognized by additional designations, either legislatively or administratively. Special designation may also occur through the actions of other agencies or organizations. The influence that special designations may have on the management of refuge lands and waters may vary considerably.

A wide variety of special land designations currently overlay national wildlife refuges. A total of 175 refuges have special management areas of one type or another. Authority for designation of some special management area types (e.g., Research Natural Areas) on refuges lies solely with the Service. Wilderness, on the other hand, must be legislatively designated by Congress. For most special management area types, responsibility is held by or shared with others.

Among the other varied special management area types found on refuges are Cultural Resource Sites, Historic Sites, Research Natural Areas, Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Natural Landmarks and National Trails. Some overlay designations may place refuges within international networks of protected lands, such as Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserves and Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention).

Refuges may also be included within much larger special management areas designated by other agencies or organizations, such as Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserves, National Marine Sanctuaries, Estuarine Sanctuaries and Biosphere Reserves. Such designation may result in changes in management strategies, pursuant to this additional designation.

Management policy and procedural guidance for Service special management areas is currently found in the Refuge Manual. Revised guidance is in preparation for incorporation into the new Service Manual. Special management area training for administrators and refuge managers currently includes multi-agency sponsored and university correspondence courses.

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.

Wilderness Areas

The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation System and a process for Federal land managing agencies to recommend wilderness areas to Congress.

Credit: Joe Doherty

Canoeing at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia

Wilderness, as defined by the Wilderness Act, is untrammeled (free from man's control), undeveloped, and natural, and offers outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation. The National Wildlife Refuge System manages refuge wilderness to secure an enduring resource of wilderness and to accomplish refuge purposes in a way that preserves wilderness character.

People value wilderness for its wildlife; scenery; clean air and water; and opportunities for solitude, personal growth experiences, and a sense of connection with nature and values beyond themselves.

As former Senator Frank Church said about the Wilderness Act, "The great purpose is to set aside a reasonable part of the vanishing wilderness, to make certain that generations of Americans yet unborn will know what it is to experience life on undeveloped, unoccupied land in the same form and character as the Creator fashioned it …It is a great spiritual experience. I never knew a man who took a bedroll onto an Idaho mountainside and slept there under a star-studded summer sky who felt self-important that next morning. Unless we preserve some opportunity for future generations to have the same experience, we shall have dishonored our trust."

Refuge wilderness visitors may hunt, fish, and observe and photograph wildlife, if these activities are compatible. Many other types of compatible recreational uses, such as cross-country skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and hiking may also be enjoyed in wilderness.

Interesting Statistics

Congress has designated 75 wilderness areas on 63 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in 26 states. About 90 per cent — or 18.6 million acres — of Refuge System wilderness is in Alaska. The remaining 2.5 million wilderness acres are in the lower 48 states. This represents approximately 22% of the National Wilderness Preservation System (over 106 million acres), that the Refuge System administers in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Forest Service.

Great Swamp NWR (NJ) was the first refuge to receive wilderness designation — 3,660 acres in the 1968.

The smallest wilderness area in the National Wildlife Refuge System is two-acre Wisconsin Islands Wilderness, Green Bay NWR (WI).

The largest wilderness area in the Refuge System is 8 million acres of the Arctic NWR. Nearly 75 per cent of Alaska Maritime NWR is wilderness. These 11 island wilderness units comprise 2.5 million of the refuge's 3.5 million acres.

The most recent additions to wilderness areas within the Refuge System were included in the 1994 California Desert Bill which expanded wilderness areas on two refuges: Havasu NWR (CA/AZ) by 3,195 acres and Imperial NWR (CA/AZ) by 5,836 acres.

For further information about wilderness areas and issues visit the Wilderness Information Network.