Blackbeard Island was acquired by the Navy Department at public auction in 1800 as a source of live oak timber for ship building.  A Presidential Proclamation in 1940 changed its designation from Blackbeard Island Reservation to Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge. Today, the refuge's 5,618 acres include maritime forest, salt marsh, freshwater marsh and beach habitat.  In 1975, three thousand acres of the refuge were set aside as National Wilderness.

Blackbeard Island NWR offers a variety of recreational activities year-round.  Wildlife observation, especially birdwatching, is excellent throughout the year.  In winter months, waterfowl utilize the marshland and songbirds abound in the wooded acres in spring and fall.  The existing trails and roads provide hikers with scenic paths ideal for nature study. Saltwater creeks which pass through refuge marshlands are open to fishing the entire year.

Blackbeard Island NWR is one of seven refuges administered by the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex. This chain of national wildlife refuges extends from Pinckney Island NWR near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to Wolf Island NWR near Darien, Georgia. Between these lie Savannah (the largest unit in the complex), Wassaw, Tybee, Harris Neck, and Blackbeard Island refuges. Together they span a 100-mile coastline and total over 56,000 acres. The Savannah Coastal Refuges are administered from headquarters located in Savannah, Georgia.

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