Ardoch National Wildlife Refuge is a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System 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 c ...

Walsh County Walsh County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,563. Its county seat is Grafton. History The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on May 2, 1881, with areas partitioned from ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

. It is managed under Devils Lake Wetland Management District. Ardoch National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939, and originally consisted of 2,696 acres of flowage and refuge easements and 288 acres of fee title land around Lake Ardoch, a reservoir. Since then, 80 acres of easement land have been deleted and an additional 20 acres of fee title land has been added. This is a limited-interest national wildlife refuge. The FWS has an easement on private property allowing it to manage wildlife habitat, but the land remains private property. There is no public access except from adjacent public roads. Limited-interest refuges were created in the 1930s and 1940s in response to declining waterfowl populations and the need to get people back to work during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Many landowners sold easements allowing the federal government to regulate water levels and restrict hunting.

References

Refuge details

External links

U.S. Geological Survey Map
at the U.S. Geological Survey Map Website. Retrieved February 2, 2023. National Wildlife Refuges in North Dakota Protected areas of Walsh County, North Dakota Easement refuges in North Dakota {{NorthDakota-protected-area-stub