National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (NWRSAA)
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (NWRSAA), enacted on October 15, 1966, established a structured framework for the management of national wildlife refuges in the United States. This legislation placed the administration of these refuges under the Department of the Interior, specifically through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and aimed to preserve the rich biodiversity of various ecosystems. By 1966, the U.S. had already designated over 28.3 million hectares (70 million acres) as wildlife refuges, protecting a diverse range of species across multiple biomes.
The NWRSAA defined a clear mission for these refuges that prioritized the conservation of fish, birds, and other wildlife against natural and human threats. It outlined that any land use decisions must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior to ensure adherence to conservation goals. The act also allowed for specific recreational activities, including controlled hunting and fishing, photography, and environmental education, while establishing protocols for acquiring new lands.
Although the act did not address every concern—such as agricultural practices or resource extraction—it significantly advanced the creation of a robust system aimed at safeguarding wildlife habitats. Today, the National Wildlife Refuge System encompasses over 95 million acres of land, attracting approximately 68 million visitors annually, with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge being the largest designated area.
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National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (NWRSAA)
THE LAW: US federal legislation coordinating the administration of hundreds of national wildlife refuges
DATE: Enacted on October 15, 1966
After nearly seventy years of setting aside vast areas of land for wildlife preservation, the U.S. government acted to provide a system for managing those refuges by placing them under the administration of the Department of the Interior. In addition, the legislation enumerated specific guidelines for the use and development of those lands that would be in keeping with the larger mission of protecting their rich biodiversity.
By 1966 more than six decades had passed since President Theodore Roosevelt placed Florida’s remote Pelican Island under federal protection to provide a refuge from excessive trapping for brown pelicans, herons, and egrets that nested on the island. During that period, the US government had come to direct a network of more than 28.3 million hectares (70 million acres) of refuges protecting more than 500 species of birds, 150 species of mammals, 200 species of reptiles, and 150 kinds of fish, a network far larger than the higher-profile national park system. Under the protocol articulated by Roosevelt, these refuges were conceived not merely as vehicles for protecting threatened or but also as sanctuaries where the diversity of a wide range of biomes—prairies, wetlands, marshes, swamps, tidal basins, and taiga and forests—could be preserved for future generations.
Given the loosely controlled nature of this refuge system (over the years, presidents and the Congress had designated additional lands as protected) and its far-ranging network of refuges (more than five hundred) under the direction of hundreds of bureaucrats and scientists, Congress decided to act in 1966 to define a clear mission for the system by passing legislation that would place the administration of the refuges under the Department of the Interior through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The legislation further specified a mission for the refuges: to maintain the integrity of each by prioritizing the conservation of fish, birds, animals, and plants from a variety of threats from both nature (such as disease, insect infestations, and food and water source depletion) and human activities (such as fires, pollution, poaching, increasing demands for recreational sites, and urban development).
In addition, the act provided that any decision concerning the use and development of these lands must be approved by the secretary of the interior to ensure that such development does not violate the mission of the refuge system. The act also provided guidelines for specific recreational uses of the public lands: controlled hunting and fishing as a way to manage game populations, photography, educational uses for students of all levels, and environmental education and scientific research. Finally, the act defined a protocol for the acquisition of new lands, either through donation or through government funding.
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act did not satisfy everyone; under pressure from vested interests, Congress did not include farming, grazing, or oil and gas drilling among the activities restricted in wildlife refuges, for example (these activities were included in the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act). The act accomplished a great deal, however, in creating the world’s largest system of public lands designated as sanctuaries for plant life and wildlife.
In 2023, the National Wildlife Refuge System included more than 95 million acres of land and more than 850 million marine acres across all US states. These refuges are visited by roughly 68 million people each year. The largest refuge is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which includes 19 million acres of land.
Bibliography
Bean, Michael J., and Melanie J. Rowland. The Evolution of National Wildlife Law. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Brinkley, Douglas. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America. New York: Harper, 2009.
Butcher, Russell D. America’s National Wildlife Refuges: A Complete Guide. 2d ed. Lanham, Md.: Taylor Trade, 2008.
Clark, Jeanne. America’s Wildlife Refuges: Lands of Promise. Portland, Oreg.: Graphic Arts Center Publishing, 2003.
Fischman, Robert L. The National Wildlife Refuges: Coordinating a Conservation System Through Law. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2003.
"Five Facts About the National Wildlife Refuge System." Defenders.org, 12 Oct. 2023, defenders.org/blog/2023/10/five-facts-about-national-wildlife-refuge-system#. Accessed 22 July 2024.