Upper Mississippi
River
National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
Headquarters
Contacting the Refuge:
Complex Manager: Don Hultman
e-mail: UpperMississippiRiver@fws.gov or MidwestNews@fws.gov51 East 4th Street
Room 101
Winona, MN 55987
Phone: 507-452-4232
Fax: 507-452-0851
TTY: 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay)The Refuge office is located
in downtown WinonaHome Page: http://midwest.fws.gov/UpperMississippiRiver/
View Refuge profile page
Refuge Facts
Established: 1924
Acres: nearly 240,000
Refuge covers 261 miles of the Mississippi River Valley from Wabasha, Minn., to Rock Island, Ill., and is divided into four districts
The refuge includes land owned by both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 19 counties across four states
Financial Impact of Refuge
Seven-person staff at Refuge Headquarters 3.5 million visitors annually (refuge-wide)
FY 2006 budget: $793,000 (headquarters) and $5 million (refugewide)
Mississippi River annually contributes an estimated $1 billion in recreational benefits to the region
Natural History
Scenic river area with broad pools, braided channels, islands and bluffs rising several hundred feet
Critical migratory bird corridor for waterfowl, songbirds and raptors
Thousands of tundra swans are present during migration
Over 160 active bald eagle nests and more than 4,000 nests in 13 heron rookeries
Refuge and river support many fish species valuable for both commercial and recreational fishing
National Scenic Byways on both sides of the refuge
50 percent of the world’s canvasback ducks stop on the refuge
40 percent of the continent’s waterfowl use the Mississippi River flyway during migration
Refuge Objectives
Protect and preserve one of America’s premier fish and wildlife areas
Provide habitat for migratory birds, fish, plants, resident wildlife and endangered species
Provide interpretation, environmental education and wildlife-dependent public use opportunities
Conserve a diversity of plant life
Public Use Opportunities
Hunting, trapping and fishing
Environmental education
Wildlife observation
Boating and camping
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Region 3 Home Page
Region 3, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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BHW Federal Building
Fort Snelling, MN 55111
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