U S Fish Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River - Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

							                               U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

                               Upper Mississippi River
                               National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
     Quick Facts
      Refuge Facts             Geopolitical Setting
• Established: 1924            • Established in 1924 by Act of
• Acres: 240,220               Congress as refuge and breeding
• Refuge covers 261            place for:
miles of Mississippi             - migratory birds; other wild
River Valley from              birds, game animals, furbearers;
Wabasha, Minn., to Rock          - fish and other aquatic life; and,
Island, Ill., and is divided     - the conservation of wildflowers
into four districts:           and aquatic plants
- Winona, MN (Pools 4-6)       • Represented in Congress by eight
- La Crosse, WI (Pools 7-8)    senators and six representatives
- McGregor, IA (Pools 9-       • Major navigation corridor
11)                            through the refuge
- Savanna, IL (Pools 12-14)    • Eleven locks and dams within
• The refuge includes          boundary creating navigation pools
land in 19 counties            • Seventy adjacent communities          Public Use Opportunities
across four states (MN,        • National Scenic Byways running        • Hunting and fishing
WI, IA, and IL)                along both sides its entire length      • Wildlife observation
                                                                       • Wildlife Interpretation
   Financial Impact            Biological Values                       • Boating and camping
• Thirty-seven person          • More than 600 species of plants       • 275,000 visits for waterfowl hunting
permanent staff                • 48,000 acres of marsh habitat         • One million visits for fishing (all
• 3.7 million visitors         • 51,000 acres of floodplain forest     seasons popular)
annually (refuge-wide)         • 5,700 acres of grassland including    • 300,000 visits for wildlife
• FY 2006 budget: $3.9         rare native prairie                     observation, interpretation, and
million (refuge-wide)          • 40 percent of waterfowl in U.S.       environmental education
• Mississippi River            use the Mississippi Flyway              • 1.3 million annual visits for water
annually contributes an        • 50 percent of the world’s canvas-     and beach-related activities
estimated $1 billion in        back ducks stage on the refuge
recreational benefits to       • 20 percent of the eastern             Contacting the Refuge
the region                     population of tundra swans stage on     Refuge Manager: Don Hultman
• Refuge visitation            the refuge                              51 East 4th Street, Room 101
generates nearly $90           • 167 bald eagle nests; 2,700 peak      Winona, MN 55987
million per year in            population during spring migration
economic output                • 5,000 great blue heron and            Phone: 507-452-4232
• Visitation to refuge         common egret nests in 15 colonies       Fax: 507-452-0851
plus visits to adjacent        • 119 species of fish                   E-mail: don_hultman@fws.gov
counties generates $255        • 42 species of mussels                 Web Site: http://midwest.fws.gov/
million                        • 31 species of reptiles (19 snakes,    uppermississippiriver
                               1 lizard, 11 turtles)
                               • 14 species of amphibians