Rydell National Wildlife Refuge’s management plan calls for restoring and enhancing habitat to benefit woodland birds, such as the red-eyed vireo, veery and ovenbird, which require large blocks of forest for nesting. Staff and volunteers have planted sugar maple, oak and other hardwood trees to re-establish forest habitat for migratory songbirds and resident wildlife.

Each summer walleyes are raised in Clifford Lake for use in stocking lakes on Native American lands in northern Minnesota. In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Program, some State-managed lakes are also stocked with walleye fingerlings from Rydell Refuge.