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Big Stone
National Wildlife Refuge		 Granite outcrop above stream, with fall foliage
44843 County Road 19
Odessa, MN   56276
E-mail: bigstone@fws.gov
Phone Number: 320-273-2191
Visit the Refuge's Web Site:
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/big_stone/		 Big Stone Refuge was named for its lichen-covered granite outcrops.
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  History
Continued . . .

The Project was authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1965. Project purposes included flood control, general recreation, and fish and wildlife habitat. The project was designed to improve the water quality of Big Stone Lake through modifications of the Whestone River silt barrier. It was also designed to provide flood protection benefits to downstream lands along the Minnesota River and resulted in the establishment of extensive wetland areas.

During the early 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a large dam for this project across the Minnesota River, which impounded approximately 5,000 acres of surface water. A water control and spillway overflow structure were installed in the dam to provide for the manipulation of the water levels in the large wetland impoundment. Lands for the project were initially acquired by the Corps of Engineers in 1971, then subsequently transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in fee title during May 1975. All the lands (11,115 acres) acquired by the Fish and Wildlife Service were incorporated into the land base for Big Stone Refuge.

 
 
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