Monomoy Island National Wildlife Refuge is a federal wildlife refuge located on

Monomoy Island Monomoy Island is an spit of sand extending southwest from Chatham, Cape Cod off the Massachusetts mainland. Because of shifting sands and water levels, it is often connected to the mainland, and at other times is separated from it. It is ho ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The island was taken over by the US government just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and established as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1944. The island was also home to the Monomoy Island Gunnery Range from 1944 until 1951. The refuge's goal is to provide habitat for migratory birds. The size of the refuge is 7,604 acres (31 km²) with varied habitats of oceans, salt and

freshwater marsh A freshwater marsh is a non-tidal, non-forested marsh wetland that contains fresh water, and is continuously or frequently flooded. Freshwater marshes primarily consist of sedges, grasses, and emergent plants. Freshwater marshes are usually found ...

es, dunes, freshwater ponds, and some historic manmade structures, such as the

Monomoy Point Light Monomoy Point Light is a historic light in Chatham, Massachusetts. The station was established in 1823. The first light was a wood tower and brick lantern room on top of the keeper's house. The current tower, one of the first made of cast iron, ...

and keeper's quarters (decommissioned but open to the public). Part of the refuge is the

Monomoy Wilderness The Monomoy Wilderness is a wilderness area south of Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is located within the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and is administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Severe winter storms isolated Mo ...

.Monomoy Wilderness
- Wilderness.net Monomoy Island USA map

References

External links

The National Fish and Wildlife's Monomoy Home Page

{{authority control Chatham, Massachusetts Massachusetts natural resources National Wildlife Refuges in Massachusetts Protected areas established in 1944 Protected areas of Barnstable County, Massachusetts Wetlands of Massachusetts Landforms of Barnstable County, Massachusetts 1944 establishments in Massachusetts