The San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is in the San Juan Islands of the Salish Sea, north of Puget Sound, in the State of Washington. Created in 1976, it comprises 83 small, uninhabited islands, scattered throughout the San Juans, with a combined area of approximately . The Refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as one of six in the

Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an administrative grouping of six National Wildlife Refuges in Washington, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It includes: * Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge (, ) * ...

. All but three of the islands are designated wilderness area in the San Juan Wilderness (), also established in 1976. Visitors are prohibited, and boaters must keep at least 200 yards from the shore to avoid disturbing the wildlife. Excluded are two state parks managed jointly with the

Washington State Park System The Washington State Park System is a set of state parks owned by the state government of Washington, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 parks throughout the state, including 19 marine ...

, five acres of

Matia Island Matia Island () is an island in the San Juan Islands of the U.S. state of Washington. The island's entire comes under the protection of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is cooperatively managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation ...

and

Turn Island Turn Island, is a island in the San Juan Islands in the Salish Sea in the U.S. state of Washington. The island sits in the San Juan Channel about 900 feet off the eastern edge of San Juan Island. It is preserved as Turn Island Marine State Park ...

; Smith Island; and Minor Island. The

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of the various islands range from small rocks to larger grassy or forested islands, some with high cliffs that provide nesting sites for a large variety of marine birds.

Wildlife

The San Juan Wilderness provides sanctuary for a large variety of animals including species of gull,

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

, guillemot,

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

, brant, oystercatcher, killdeer,

auklet An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

, and harbor seal.San Juan Wilderness
- Wilderness.net An estimated 200 species of birds visit the islands each year. Harbor seals and whales are common in surrounding water and black brant have historically used the kelp beds for winter feeding.San Juan Wilderness, Washington
- GORP

Recreation

Recreation in San Juan Wilderness is limited to wildlife watching from afar. Boaters are requested to stay 200 yards from wilderness when observing wildlife. Public entry to the designated land is not permitted, with the exception of

, which is accessed by a cove with a dock. Matia Island has a campground and a trail through the wilderness.

References

External links

San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
San Juan Wilderness
Wilderness.net {{authority control Protected areas of San Juan County, Washington National Wildlife Refuges in Washington (state) Protected areas established in 1976 1976 establishments in Washington (state)