Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Pacific Region
 

Welcome

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was established on August 18, 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as the Lake Malheur Bird Reservation. Roosevelt set aside unclaimed lands encompassed by Malheur, Mud and Harney Lakes “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” The newly established “Lake Malheur Bird Reservation” was the 19th of 51 wildlife refuges created by Roosevelt during his tenure as president. At the time, Malheur was the third refuge in Oregon and one of only six refuges west of the Mississippi.

The Refuge is located 30 miles south of Burns, Oregon in the southeast corner of the state. The Refuge is open from dawn until dusk each day. The Visitor Center at Refuge Headquarters is open Monday - Thursday from 8:00 to 4:00 and from 8:00 to 3:00 on Friday. Beginning March 9th the Visitor Center will be open on weekends. The Refuge Museum, located at Headquarters, is open from dawn until dusk each day.

You may also be interested in recent bird sightings in the area.

 

Get Involved with the Refuge

The Refuge offers a variety of volunteer opportunities which contribute to the overall management of the Refuge. Members of the public can also join the Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

New Recreational Fishing Plan for the Refuge

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has prepared a Recreational Fishing Plan as a supplement to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.  The Recreational Fishing Plan was developed to consolidate the information pertaining to fishing opportunities Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in an effort to provide the interested public a more succinct evaluation and analysis of the effects on the human environment associated with fishing opportunities at the Refuge.

The following comments were received during the public comment period which ended on January 2, 2013

Comment: The Service should not allow vehicles to drive down East Canal. More public and vehicle access will ruin the fishery. 

Response: Prior to 1999 East Canal was open to vehicle access. During this time East Canal was a good fishery. Since 1999 additional habitat improvement projects have occurred in East Canal to improve upon the existing fishery. 

Comment: Krumbo Reservoir fishing regulations should remain the same.  

Response: Year-round fishing at Krumbo Reservoir would provide greater opportunity for the fishing public. As noted in under Objective 8d in the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP), the access would close when road conditions are hazardous to prevent road damage and ice fishing or nonmotorized or electric boats would not be permitted when the reservoir begins to ice over. We also expect wintertime use to be light and any additional angling that may occur is not expected to significantly impact the fishery.   

Comment: Enforcing barbless hooks on the new seasonal bank fishing opportunity in the lower Blitzen River is not recommended. Research has shown hook mortality is not significantly increased through the use of barb hooks. We recommend angler education in best methods for releasing fish, notices of current fishing condition, and requests to cease angling when they exceed their daily limits for redband trout. 

Response: The Service adjusted the Recreational Fishing Plan to reflect the recommendation to not enforce barbless hooks. 

The new Recreational Fishing Plan for Malheur Refuge is available for review as a pdf (924 KB). View File

Check out our new wildlife observation blind!

The family of David Marshall, long time US Fish and Wildlife Service employee, funded construction of a new ADA accessible wildlife observation blind on Marshall Pond at Refuge Headquarters. The blind is available for use from sunrise to sunset year-round. Be sure to visit it on your next trip to the Refuge.

New wildlife observation blind at Refuge headquarters

A visitor and refuge volunteers Darlene Kelley and Kay Sanborn view waterfowl using Marshall Pond from the new wildlife observation blind.

Learn more about what's happening on the Refuge

The Miller Homestead Wildfire Burned onto the Refuge in late July. Smoldering peat soils in meadows continue to be monitored by fire crews. Photos and more information about the impact of the fire on the refuge are available here.

Caspian Terns continue to use the new nesting island on Malheur Lake. Nests continue to be incubated and chicks are beginning to learn to fly. Photos and more information about terns using the refuge are available here.

The Aquatic Health program is making great strides in understanding how invasive common carp are effecting refuge wetlands. The week of September 17th was spent sampling carp at various locations on the refuge. Kidney samples were obtained from 120 carp to obtain bacteria samples. Fisheries biologists were also recording the various age classes of carp caught in nets to obtain a clearer understanding of population sizes. Check out our new brochure to learn more about this problem.

Fisheries Biologist, Linda Beck presented a poster at the 2012 American Fisheries Society annual meeting about aquatic health work on the refuge. View her poster.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 36391 Sodhouse Lane, Princeton, Oregon 97721 (541) 493-2612
Last updated: December 19, 2012