Features
Wildlife Drive and Trail Closures
A large section of Wildlife Drive and the Key Wallace Trail will be closed on various days in fall and winter for deer management.
Click here for closure dates.
![Canada Geese](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161226070601im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Chesapeake_Marshlands_Complex/Blackwater/Images/Canada_geese_over-corn.jpg?n=697)
Wintering Waterfowl
View the latest waterfowl surveys for Blackwater NWR.
Click here
![JDS 2016-17 Small](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161226070601im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Chesapeake_Marshlands_Complex/Blackwater/Images/Jr%20Duck%20Stamp%202015-2016.jpg?n=7409)
Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest
Blackwater NWR will host the judging of the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest for Maryland on February 18, 2017.
Learn about the program and see 2016 contest results.
Hunting Information
![Turkey - USFWS.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161226070601im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Chesapeake_Marshlands_Complex/Blackwater/Images/HuntingPromo.jpg)
The new 2016-17 deer and waterfowl hunt information is now available for Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Visit our hunting page to download hunting maps and regulations.
Click here for the hunt page.
About the Complex
There are four refuges and 5 divisions in the complex.
Blackwater is managed as part of the Chesapeake Marshlands NWR Complex.
Learn more about the complex
About the NWRS
The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife, and plants.
Learn more about the NWRS
Around the Refuge
All the latest announcements from Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
Click here![Bald eagle - Woody Dawson.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161226070601im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Chesapeake_Marshlands_Complex/Blackwater/Images/RaptorCamPromo.jpg)
Check out the raptor cams at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Visitors can view the osprey nest and bald eagle nest either online or from the refuge visitor center. Learn more on the raptor cams page.
Raptor Cams Page![Harriet Tubman Promo](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161226070601im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Chesapeake_Marshlands_Complex/Blackwater/Images/TubmanPromo.jpg)
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is celebrating the life and history of Harriet Tubman, whose heroic actions helped many slaves escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Learn more about Harriet Tubman.
![Delmarva peninsula fox squirrel - Mary Konchar.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161226070601im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Chesapeake_Marshlands_Complex/Blackwater/Images/DPFSpromo.jpg)
The Delmarva peninsula fox squirrel (DFS) is a large tree squirrel that lives in mature hardwood and pine forests throughout the Delmarva peninsula. Recently removed from the endangered species list, this squirrel is still a rarity on the eastern shore, with Blackwater refuge hosting the largest natural population.
Learn more
Page Photo Credits All photos courtesy of USFWS unless otherwise noted., Sunset at the refuge - Ray Paterra/USFWS.
Last Updated: Dec 12, 2016