National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for
certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the
system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish,
wildlife and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated
Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife
refuge in 1903, the System has grown to over 560 national wildlife refuges
and other units of the Refuge System, plus 38 wetland management districts
encompassing more than 150,000,000 acres (607,028 km2)..
