About Us
Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 3,219 acres of fee-title land and 604 acres of easements within the Prairie Pothole Region. The refuge includes two large wetland pools totaling 1,266 acres, along with 350 acres of seasonal wetlands. Upland habitat consists of more than 1,200 acres of native prairie grassland as well as areas seeded with tame grass.
Our Mission
Each unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System is established to serve a statutory purpose that targets the conservation of native species dependent on its lands and waters. All activities on those acres are reviewed for compatibility with this statutory purpose.
Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge was established to provide high-quality habitat and breeding grounds for migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife. As described in the 2008 Comprehensive Conservation Plan for North Dakota refuges, Lake Zahl is part of a “collection of unique and diverse refuges [that] encompasses a broad range of North Dakota habitat types and landscapes. These refuges provide vital resting and breeding habitat for waterfowl, other migratory birds, and resident fish and wildlife species. Visitors to these prairie refuges experience wide-open spaces, skies filled with migratory birds, places to learn, and welcome solitude. The responsible management of these special places requires adequate funding, dedicated personnel, and successful partnerships. Achievement of this vision ensures that the American people retain a legacy of wildlife and prairie habitats for future generations.”
Our History
Before European settlement, Native American communities lived throughout northwest North Dakota. The landscape supported mixed‑grass prairie, with shrubs such as western snowberry, rose, and buffaloberry, and groves of aspen, willow, and occasional cottonwood along wetland edges.
Homesteading in the late 1800s and early 1900s brought extensive farming and livestock production. The Great Depression of the 1930s forced many families to sell land and livestock, but renewed prosperity in the 1940s led to increased small‑grain farming. Native prairie continues to be converted to cropland today.
Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the 1940s, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a dam to create and maintain the refuge’s two large wetland pools, which Ducks Unlimited later repaired and upgraded in the 1990s.
Lake Zahl National Wildlife Refuge is one of more than 565 refuges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and continues to be managed in a way that honors its founding conservation purpose.