USFWS Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge

Rachel Carson is one of over 560 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System adminstered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is a network of lands and waters managed specifically for the protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat and represents the most comprehensive wildlife management program in the world. Units of the system stretch across the United States from northern Alaska to the Florida Keys and include small islands in the Carribean and South Pacific.

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. The system was established in March 1903 by President Roosevelt. Rachel Carson NWR was established in December 1966.