Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge is one of our area's most beautiful attractions.

22996 290th St. NE., Middle River, MN 56737                               Google Map
From Thief River Falls go 12 miles north on Hwy 32 then 11 miles east on 290th St. NE/Marshall Co. Rd. 7
218-449-4115 • Agassiz@fws.gov

Explore the refuge’s 61,500 acres of diverse plant and animal life. Franklin’s Gull, Bitterns, 17 species of Eastern and Western Waterfowl, 5 Grebe species, Sandhill Cranes, Sharptailed and Le Conte’s Sparrows. Primitive camping allowed on state and wildlife land adjacent to Agassiz Refuge. Wildlife displays in office. Outdoor kiosks, firearm deer hunting. Agassiz bookshop sells refuge shirts, hats, books and wildlife-related items. Office open at 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., excluding federal holidays. For more information visit the refuge website or email us.

US Fish and Wildlife Service : Agassiz Wildlife Refuge

Minnesota DNR : Agassiz Wildlife Refuge

Refuge Facts

• Established: 1937

• Acres: 61,500 (4,000 in wilderness)

• Refuge name changed from Mud Lake Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in 1961

• Maintains a resident moose herd

Financial Impact of Refuge

• Eleven person staff

• 20,000 visitors annually

• FY 2008 Budget: $1.8 million

Natural History

• First drainage district organized to convert the marshes into arable land in 1909

• Approximately $1 million had been spent on the drainage system by 1933

• Tax assessments forced the state legislature to absorb the drainage taxes and authorize the land to be purchased as a wildlife refuge

• The refuge lies in the bed of glacia Lake Agassiz in a transition zone between the coniferous forest and the tallgrass prairie pothole region

• Supports 294 species of birds and 49 species of mammals

Refuge Objectives

• Provide resting, nesting and feeding habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds

• Provide habitat for resident wildlife

• Protect endangered and threatened species

• Provide for biodiversity

• Provide public opportunities for outdoor recreation and environmental education

• Conduct research

Highlight

After a 100-year absence, a pair of trumpeter swans nested on the refuge in 2004. A second pair joined them in 2006.

Priorities

• Implement new hunting opportunities

• Implement habitat treatments in the open landscape focus area

• Develop and implement management plans and provide protection for 5,400 acres of easements within the refuge’s seven-county management district

• Investigate water quality and determine sediment and nutrient loads

• Repair ditch 11

Public Use Opportunities

• Wildlife observation

• Environmental education

• Auto tour route

• Hunting (big game)

• Three hiking trails (two accessible)

• Wildlife displays in office

• Photography

• Two observation blinds

• Three outdoor information kiosks

Tags: Agassiz, Bird Watching, Birding, Birds, Moose, Northwest Minnesota, State Wildlife Refuge, Waterflowl, Wildlife, Wildlife Refuge, Wolves